Days Without the School
by Singing Tree
Summary: Okay, takes place after the flock saves the world. The first author's note explains more about the plot. Please read and Review! Finished! Done! The End! No More! This story is complete!
1. First Day

**A/N: Ok, who agrees with me that I'm writing more stories then I can keep track of? Oh well. I'm just writing this one for those times that I can't think of anything for my other one(s). Also, this takes place after the flock saves the world; Max, Fang, and Iggy are 15, Nudge's 12, Gazzy's 9, and Angel's 7. I'll try not to make this story go in the "Max gets pregnant" direction like all my other stories. Please read and review!**

Max's POV:

I woke up for the hundredth time that night without Fang's strong arms around me. I was in my mother's house and the rest of the flock was staying either at their parents' house or at an adoptive family. I hated it. I was the one who went around with everyone, helping them find their families, and I had to say good-bye to Fang last. I almost broke down and asked him not to leave me, but he wanted to try out what being in a real family would be like, so I let him. I should have let him go before Iggy, who had found a nice, adoptive family, so it wouldn't have been as hard. The only good part was that Fang's family lived near my mother's house so we were going to go to school together and we'd still see each other. Fang didn't actually know how I felt, though. He thought that I was happy for him, which I was, but he didn't know how much it hurt me.

"Max?" Mom called through my door. "You have to get up, it's time for school." I groaned. My mom had enrolled me in school, and since I was two years older then Ella, I didn't know anyone in my class, besides for Fang, of course, but, honestly, how often would I actually see him?

"Max, come on! We need to go!" I groaned again as Mom knocked on my door for the umpteenth time.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I grumbled as I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, finishing my usual attire with a windbreaker.

"Max, hurry up or you'll be late!" Mom yelled as she went outside. I grabbed the book-bag that held my school stuff and ran out into the car.

The car ride to school didn't take long, so I decided I'd walk home after school. I didn't have to worry about Erasers or anything, so I'd be perfectly safe.

At the office, I just spaced out as my mom got my schedule and a map of the school for me.

"Is Max short for something?" asked the secretary once Mom had left.

"No," I told her. I'd rather not say that my real name was Maximum. That probably wouldn't get a very good response from her.

"Well, you may want to hurry; classes start in a few minutes. Here's your locker number, and the locker code is right below it," she said, handing me another piece of paper. "Have a nice day."

"Thanks," I muttered, looking at the paper with my locker number as I walked away.

I got to my locker and stuffed all my stuff that I didn't need until after lunch inside, glancing at my schedule as I did.

"Hey," said a male voice. "Are you new here?"

I looked up and saw a guy, probably in my grade, looking at me while going through his locker.

"Yeah, today's my first day here," I told him. "I'm Max."

"Tom," he said with a smile just as the bell rang. "Ugh, I got to go. My first class is on the other side of the building. I'll see you around, Max." Tom turned around and started running then.

"See you around, Tom," I said, mostly to myself. I knew who I was going to be sitting with at lunch. The second bell rang then.

"Shit," I muttered. I glanced at my schedule and saw I had Biology first, and started running to class.

I got there and opened the door slowly, not wanting to be noticed, but the teacher saw me.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Ms. Martinez," the teacher said, and it took me a second to realize she was talking to me and that Mom had registered me in the school database as 'Max Martinez' rather then 'Max Ride.'

"Sorry," I muttered before taking a seat in the back row. A couple people turned in their desk to look at me, but I kept my face down, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes. I'm serious, that class felt like it was going by at a snail's pace, each minute feeling like an hour.

When the bell finally rang, I jumped out of my seat and practically ran to the door so I could get to my next class, Literature, on time. I thought I had heard someone call my name, but I ignored them since I could tell that it was a guy, probably a classmate, and I didn't feel like talking to them.

I got to my Literature class before the bell rang and chose a seat in the back of the room closest to the door so I could make a quick escape when the bell rang again.

Everyone started coming in, and I took out my notebook and started doodling just for something to do. I could see that someone was sitting next to me out of my peripheral vision, but I didn't bother to look up to see who it was, and they didn't have a chance to start talking to me because the second bell rang and the teacher walked in.

Again, class couldn't go by quick enough.

"Max!" the same person as after Bio called my name. I didn't feel like turning around to see who it was, so I walked fast towards the lunchroom, thanking whoever made the schedule over and over again for only making me suffer through five classes a day, Bio, Literature, lunch, History, and Drama.

"Hey, Max," I heard Tom call from one of the tables. At the same moment, I felt someone's hand on my arm. I turned around to see who it was and came face-to-face with Fang.

"Hey," he said, slightly smiling. "Finally you acknowledge me. I've been trying to talk to you since first period."

"Sorry, hectic day," I said, putting a false-smile on my face. I really didn't feel like talking to him right now.

Evidently, Fang saw something in my expression that gave him a hint to what I wanted. "Well, I have to go do the homework I have so far. Do you want to walk home with me?"

"Sure," I said. I didn't mind walking home with him. I'd probably think of a way to get out of walking with him specifically by the time school ended. "See you then."

Fang nodded and walked away, back into the hall towards his locker, and I went over to where Tom was sitting.

"Hey, who was that?" he asked once I sat down, pointing at Fang's retreating back.

"That's Nick," I said. "We knew each other when we were younger." Actually, we had known each other since we were born, but I didn't tell Tom that.

"Oh," said Tom. "Are you two..?" I could tell he was asking if we were a couple, but didn't want to outright say it.

"I'm not sure," I said. I could see Tom's expression become a bit puzzled as he tried to figure out how I couldn't know if we were a couple. Luckily, though, the bell rang and saved me, again, from having to talk anymore.

When I got to my locker, I looked at my schedule and saw that I had History and then Drama.

I got to class, though, and the secretary who I had seen that morning in the office was standing by the door.

"Class is canceled for today," she told the crowd of students that was starting to form outside the History classroom. "Your teacher is sick, and the Drama teacher is still out of town; you can all go home early." Most of the students cheered, but I inwardly groaned. I hadn't had any time to prepare a way to dodge Fang.

**A/N: Yeah, I know. Bad way to end the chapter, but I wanted to get to chapter two before I wrote the entire story in one. Please review! The button is right there! Just say what you think about this chapter, and I'll add more tonight!**


	2. Strangers Hitting on Max

**A/N: Ok, I SHOULD be working on my Language Arts project on ****To Kill a Mockingbird****, but I have too many ideas running through my head. Just so you guys know, though, my parents are going to KILL me if I don't finish my project, and I'll probably never be able to update, like, ever again, so let that be on your consciences while you're reading this! If I update tomorrow, you can feel better by knowing that I'm home-free. Please review!**

Max's POV:

I walked out of the school building, enjoying the fact that I was off early, and toyed with the small, heart-shaped gold locket that Fang had given me when he first found his parents. He hadn't wanted me to forget him, even though he was living so close by.

I waited on the front steps to see if Fang would come outside since I had decided that I really _did_ want to talk to him, but he didn't show. I waited for half and hour, knowing that Fang and I had the same schedules, but he never showed up. I got to my feet and gave the school building one more look before turning and heading to my house. I think Fang could tell that I wasn't sure if I had wanted to talk with him, so he probably thought I didn't want to talk to him. I sighed as I walked; noticing that it was a longer walk home then I realized it would be.

I looked over my shoulder and saw a couple of guys following me. I didn't pay any attention to them, though. They couldn't be Erasers, so I didn't have to worry about them, but I did wish that I had put slits in my windbreaker for my wings. My wings were cramped uncomfortably against my back. I looked over my shoulder again, and saw that the guys who were following me were closer, closing the distance between us. I walked faster, and I could hear their footfalls increase, too.

I started running, but I was slowed down my backpack, which help three textbooks in it. I was trying to focus on my running, but my foot caught on a loose branch and I fell, my backpack crashing onto my head, making me see stars for a second.

"Hey, sweet thing," I heard a male voice behind me. I turned over and saw that the men who had been chasing me were standing over me.

"You need help?" the other man asked.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," I said in a strong voice as I tried to get up, but one of the men had their foot on my bag.

"Here, let me help you. I'll even take you home," the first man said with a small cackle.

"I'm fine, really," I said, starting to panic. They had me trapped, and I couldn't use my wings. Why hadn't Fang come out?

"What's that pretty thing around your neck?" one of the men asked, snatching at my locket. He opened it, and grinned evilly. "You unlucky in love?" he asked with mock-concern.

"No, I bet she had her mama buy that for her so she'd think she had a secret admirer," said the other man.

"Please, let me up," I asked, trying not to sound like I was begging.

"I don't think so," both men said at once.

"Please, just leave me-" I started saying, but I was cut off as one of the men hit me in the face, hard.

"Aw, look, she's crying," said one of the men with a laugh. I wasn't crying, though. The skin of my cheek had broken where he had hit me.

"Please, just leave me alone," I begged.

"No, you're too much fun," one man—I'm not sure which—said with a sneer.

Just as the men started to hit me again, harder, I saw something that looked like a shadow behind them.

"Get off of her," said the shadow. I couldn't tell who it was, the two goons had hit me hard enough that I felt like I was about to pass-out.

"Who're you to tell us when to do?" one of the men said.

"Your worst nightmare," I heard the shadow say before I blacked out.

**A/N: And that's that chapter! I had that scene playing in my head all the time I was working on my project so far, so I had to write it down. Please, please, please review!!!**


	3. Girlfried, Boyfriend

**A/N: Ok, again, I'm making a bad decision by writing this up, but this chapter was just playing in my head and I figured "why not?" So here it is!**

Max's POV:

"Ugh," I was asleep on something hard that was all I could tell. I didn't know where I was, and I couldn't remember the last few hours if I tried, which I did, but that just made my head hurt.

"Max, are you ok?" I heard someone say. I could feel vibrations as the person walked toward me, which told me that I was on the ground.

"What happened?" I asked, opening my eyes, looking up into Fang's unemotional face. "Where's the rest of the flock?"

"Max, do you remember what happened before you blacked out?" Fang asked me.

"Only bits and pieces, but that's it," I said, rubbing my head. "What happened exactly, just a few hours ago?"

"Well, all I know is that you had left school—normal school, not the School—and hadn't waited for me, since we were going to walk together, so I started flying the way I thought you had gone when I saw you being held down by two men, so I... got involved and stopped them. I—" Fang paused and looked down, "I don't know if they lived or not."

Then it all came back. Saying good-bye to the flock as they found their families, saying good-bye to Fang after he promised never to leave me again, going to school, seeing Fang, being attacked when I was helpless, and the one who looked like a shadow who saved me—Fang.

"They probably didn't," I said. "I remember now. What time is it?"

"Almost 7:00," Fang told me.

"Crap, I need to get home. My mom's probably flipping out with worry," I said, pushing myself up.

"Can I walk you home?" Fang offered, even though I knew he'd insist if I said no.

"Sure," I said. "But I really have to hurry." I grabbed my stuff and started walking home.

"Max, wait," Fang said from behind me, but I didn't stop walking or slow my pace, even with my heavy textbooks in my bag.

"Max, just tell me why you're mad at me," Fang said—almost pleaded—as he walked next to me.

"I'm not mad at you, Fang," I said, playing with my necklace absent-mindedly again. This probably didn't escape Fang's notice, but he didn't say anything.

"Just out of curiosity, who was the guy you were sitting with at lunch? I didn't recognize him from any of our classes," Fang said after a while, trying to make conversation.

"His name's Tom, his locker is right next to mine, so he introduced himself this morning," I said.

"Oh," Fang said shortly, ending that conversation.

"So," I said, starting another conversation. "Who else is in our classes? You know better then me, since you've been in school longer."

"A couple guys on the football team, a girl named Miranda, one of my close friends, Justin, another really close friend named Rachel, and a couple other people whose names are unknown to me since I haven't bothered with meeting them, yet," he said. I hadn't heard the last part, though. Who was Rachel? Was she his girlfriend? If she was, I could tell Tom that I didn't have a boyfriend, that I wasn't part of a couple, because I could tell that he had wanted to ask me out at lunch, but didn't want to make a fool of himself by asking out a girl who had a boyfriend.

"Who's Rachel?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, she's a really close friend," Fang said shortly. "And here we are."

"Thanks for walking me home, Fang," I said.

"No problem," he said. "By the way, Rachel is _just_ a friend. I don't have a girlfriend." And with that, he turned around and flew to wherever he lived.

**A/N: Ok, you don't have to worry anymore! I finished my To Kill a Mockingbird project! And, hopefully, I'll pass!**


	4. Fang's Point of View

**A/N: Ok, due to a request in a review, I'll make this chapter in Fang's POV of what happened in chapters 2 and 3.**

Fang's POV:

I walked outside after putting my stuff in my locker so I could meet up with Max. I had missed her so much before she started school, and I could tell that she didn't forgive me for leaving her for a real family.

When I got outside, Max wasn't there. Maybe I'd taken a bit too long at my locker. I went over to the wooded area next to the school building and took off so that I'd be able to see her from the air. I was only flying for a few minutes when I caught sight of Max, two guys following close behind her.

I decided to just coast in the air until they went away so I could talk to Max, but when Max tripped over an exposed tree root, the two guys jumped on her. I circled around so I could land without running into them.

After I landed, I ran over to where they were.

"Get off of her!" I yelled at the men, who were now hitting her in the face, making her skin break.

"Who're you to tell us what to do?" one of the men said in a slow, unfamiliar accent.

"Your worst nightmare," I said, putting as much venom into my voice as I could.

"Ha! You're probably no older then our little friend here," said the man, kicking Max's unconscious body.

"No, I'm her age," I said, "but I'm not as easily over taken as her."

"Oh, so you're the one who gave her the necklace?" the other man said.

"Perhaps," I told them, "but if you don't back away, you'll regret it."

"Oh, yeah? How're you gonna make us regret it?" the first man challenged.

"Guys, I may not punish you," I started, extending my black wings out so the men could see. "But god will." The two men stood stock-still as I lunged at them, breaking a few of their ribs and probably cracking one of their skulls.

Once they were both totally out, I picked Max up and brought her to the park that was nearby.

After about an hour, Max stirred.

"Ugh," she groaned softly.

"Max, are you ok?" I asked, walking closer to her.

"What happened?" Max asked, opening her eyes to gaze up into me face. "Where's the rest of the flock?"

"Max, do you remember what happened before you blacked out?" I asked her.

"Only bits and pieces, but that's it," Max said slowly, rubbing her head. "What happened exactly, just a few hours ago?"

"Well, all I know is that you had left school—normal school, not the School—and hadn't waited for me, since we were going to walk together, so I started flying the way I thought you had gone when I saw you being held down by two men, so I... got involved and stopped them. I—" I paused and looked down, remembering the state I had left the men in. "I don't know if they lived or not."

Max paused for a second before speaking again.

"They probably didn't," Max said. "I remember now. What time is it?"

"Almost 7:00," I told her after a brief glance at my watch.

"Crap, I need to get home. My mom's probably flipping out with worry," Max said, pushing herself up.

"Can I walk you home?" I offered, even though I'd walk with her even if she said no.

"Sure," Max said. "But I really have to hurry." She grabbed her stuff and started walking off.

"Max, wait," I said, running to catch up to her, but she didn't stop walking or slow her pace.

"Max, just tell me why you're mad at me," I said, trying not to sound pleading, as I walked next to her.

"I'm not mad at you, Fang," Max said, playing with the necklace I gave her when she'd first left me at my new family's house.

"Just out of curiosity, who was the guy you were sitting with at lunch? I didn't recognize him from any of our classes," I said after a while, trying to make conversation.

"His name's Tom," she said. "His locker is right next to mine, so he introduced himself this morning."

"Oh," I said shortly, ending that conversation. Did she like this guy—Tom? I hoped not.

"So," she said, starting another conversation. "Who else is in our classes? You know better then me, since you've been in school longer."

"A couple guys on the football team, a girl named Miranda, one of my close friends, Justin," I paused for half a second before continuing. "Another really close friend named Rachel, and a couple other people whose names are unknown to me since I haven't bothered with meeting them, yet," I said. I could tell that Max had stopped listening after I mentioned Rachel. I wouldn't tell Max that Rachel and I had been going out, though.

"Who's Rachel?" Max asked in a would-be-innocent tone.

"Oh, she's a really close friend." After a few more minutes of walking, we stopped in front of Max's house. "And here we are."

"Thanks for walking me home, Fang," Max said.

"No problem," I replied. "By the way, Rachel is _just_ a friend. I don't have a girlfriend." And with that, I turned around and flew to my family's house, not wanting to see Max's reaction.

**A/N: Ok, a chapter in Fang's POV. Please review!!!**


	5. Rachel

**A/N: Here's chapter 5! Also, if there are any stories of mine that I listed as complete that you'd like for me to add to, just tell me some plot-keys or plot ideas and I'll continue it!**

Fang's POV:

The next day of school was killer.

Max actually talked to me a bit, and Rachel believed me that Max was just a friend—nothing special.

I felt bad about two-timing both of them, but I'd decide who to go with by the end of the week.

"Hey, Nicky!" Rachel called during my break. One of the many things I like about Rachel is that she's not afraid to be herself, and she can beat a guy so hard, I've heard horror-stories about what she did to her first boyfriend, who had been with her for a few years, when she found out that he was sleeping with another girl. And what I meant by 'she's not afraid to be herself,' was that she's a Goth.

"Hi, Rachel," I said, hugging her tightly.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Rachel asked, looking up at me with her huge, bright-blue eyes.

"'Course," I said, stroking her dyed, bright-orange hair. "Why would I cancel?"

"Because you might want to hang out with your old friend, the one you talked about, like, 24/7 when I first met you," Rachel teased me.

"Max and I do hang out," I said. "But we don't actually _go_ out." I wouldn't dare tell my girlfriend that I was also dating Max. It would have torn her apart, and she was the first person who showed me any type of friendship when I first started school, besides the jocks. But the jocks only liked me because I was their quarter-back.

"When can I actually meet Max? She sounds sooo cool," Rachel said.

"Well," I started slowly, "she doesn't really know about _us_ yet, because she and I used to be steady. I don't know how she'd take it." I was braced for Rachel to get mad at me, but she took it really coolly.

"You two used to date?" Rachel asked rhetorically. "Does she still think you two are an item?"

"I'm not sure," I said truthfully. Max had acted like she wanted to date that guy, Tom, but I wasn't sure if she'd made a move yet.

You know the expression, "saved by the bell"? Well, I now knew the real meaning of the phrase. The bell had just rung, saving me from any further explanation about Max.

"I've got to jet, Rachel," I told her, jumping up and grabbing my bag. "My next class is, like, at the opposite end of the building." I kissed her briefly and ran towards my next class, Biology. I want to say that I was excited for class because I like learning, but that would be a lie. I was excited to see Max.

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. "How the flipping hell can Fang do this to Max and Rachel?" Easily. Don't worry, though. The story gets better. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE REVIEW!!!**


	6. Forgiveness?

**A/N: This chapter takes place AFTER SCHOOL IS OVER. Just letting y'all know so you won't wonder why all the students are leaving early.**

Max's POV:

I walked out onto the school building's front steps to walk home again, and I hesitated. Should I was for Fang? Was Fang going to walk with me again today? I remembered that I'd left my book in my locker before I could decide what to do, and darted back into the building.

I went to my locker and grabbed my book, stuffing it into my bag, and turned to walk back outside when I happened to look into an empty classroom.

Inside, I saw a Gothic girl practically on top of a guy who looked like he was also a Goth. I was about to look away when the boy lifted his head up to get some air.

It was Fang.

Fang, with his face glued to the Goth's lips. Shit, this could not be happening. I don't think my heart—or head—could handle it.

Shit, shit, shit! He said he wasn't dating anyone! I turned and ran out of there as fast as I could, but I think Fang saw me.

Fang's POV:

I was being what my adoptive mom would call a "bad boy." I was making out with Rachel in an empty classroom, very intensely.

I had come up for air, since Rachel and I had been locked together for about a minute, when I saw the flash of dirty-blond hair.

Shit, Max had seen me.

I had planed to tell Rachel that I couldn't see her anymore tomorrow! Why did Max have to see me today?

"Rachel, this is wrong," I whispered, trying not to panic that Max had seen me.

"I know, Nick," Rachel said with a sigh. "The office just put new cameras up. They could be watching us," she smiled, small and sweetly, "but at least I'll always be able to see what we had."

"'Had'?" I asked. Was it really that easy to tell I was going to break up with her?

"Yeah," she said sadly. "I can tell when you look at Max that you love her, and when you first moved here you kept talking about 'your old girlfriend, Max.' It's ok, though. I'd probably do the same if my ex-boyfriend who I loved as much as you love Max wanted me again or came back."

"You really don't mind?" I asked, worried about her feelings.

"I could tell from the day that she cam back that you still loved her more then anyone. It doesn't mean that we can't still be friends though, does it?"

"Of course not," I told her. "We'll probably always be friends."

"Ok," Rachel said. "You should go see if she's waiting for you."

I nodded and left the room so I could go catch up to Max.

I found her on the front steps of the school building, sobbing her eyes out.

Oh, shit, she _had_ seen me and Rachel kissing. Crap, shit, fuck!

"Max?" I asked softly. "Max, are you ok?"

"Get away from me, you bastard," Max snapped at me among her tears.

"Max, Rachel—" I started, but Max cut me off.

"Oh, that was Rachel? Your _good friend_?!? Hmm, she looked like a bit _more_ then just a friend! More like a friend with special benefits!" Max screamed at me. A few kids were staring as they passed. I knew what they were probably thinking. Is the hot new girl, Max, breaking up with her boyfriend, the head jock, Nick? They were probably hoping that we were breaking up so they could have a chance at either of us.

"Max, she really _just_ a friend now," I told her, but those were the wrong words to use.

"'Now'? Meaning, you two were an item when I saw you in the room, but now you broke up with her because I saw you?" Max spat at me. "Well, guess what? I'm top buying it!" She turned tail and started running toward the wooded area, and I ran after her.

"Just get away from me, Fang!" she screamed when she saw me following her. I knew the area well enough to know where we were; right by the canyon.

"Max, please, just listen to me!" I called after her, pleading.

"Get away from me, Fang! I hate you!" she screamed as she jumped over the edge.

"No you don't!" I yelled after her, but I stayed where I was.

**A/N: I know, FINALLY, right? I'm sorry it took so long, and I probably won't be able to update much this week since I have choir practice every night this week for a program at my school that's on the 11 of December, so forgive me! Please read and review, though! The more reviews, the more time I'll make to type and update.**


	7. Cave

**A/N: Here's the next chapter!**

Max's POV:

"Just get away from me, Fang!" I screamed, tears running down my face as I ran towards the canyon's edge. "I hate you!"

"No you doooonnnn'tt!" Fang's voice fell away as I went into a dive towards the bottom of the canyon, where there was a little cave I always went to, to think.

I sat there just crying, and I might actually stay all night.

Fang's POV:

I watched as Max plummeted towards the bottom of the canyon and waited for her to come flying back up. She didn't, though. I started pacing and looked over the edge once, but I still didn't see her.

"Max," I called down, but, as I expected, she didn't reply. I jumped over the edge and started looking for her.

"Max!" I called, more frantically then before. Had she committed suicide? No, I couldn't think like that. But if she had, I'd have hated myself for all the things I hadn't said to her. All the things I'd done wrong.

After a few more ineffective searching, I heard a quiet sob coming from a little ways ahead of me. I landed and went to investigate, being as quiet as I could.

I found a little cave and saw Max sitting with her back to one of the cave walls, angling her head away from the entrance.

"Max?" I tested out to see if she would respond. She did, by crying more.

"Can't you understand plain English, Fang?" she asked rhetorically. "I told you to leave me alone." She took out an iPod that her mother had evidently gotten her and stuck the headphones in her ears, skipping through her songs so she could get to the one she wanted to listen to.

I walked up behind her and put my arms around her waist, placing my hands on the opposite hip. I started kissing her neck, and I heard her moan slightly as I kissed one spot. I smiled to myself and kissed that spot again, but she jerked her head backwards, hitting my face with her skull.

"Ow," I muttered, and I heard her stifle a laugh. I smiled slyly and kissed the spot on her neck where she hated with more force. She jerked her neck and I heard her moan louder this time. The earphones popped out of her ears from the abrupt movement, and I held her wrists so she couldn't put them back in.

"Fang, let me go," she said quietly.

"And if I don't want to?" I teased.

"Then I'll force you to let me go," she said, no teasing at all. Did she really want me to leave her alone?

"And if you can't?" I asked harsher this time. I felt Max tense up, getting ready to 'make me' get off of her. I held her wrists and waist tighter.

"Fang, let go of me," she said more demanding then asking.

"Do you forgive me? I really did break up with Rachel so I could be with you full-time," I told her.

"Fine," she sighed. "Yes, I forgive you. Now please let me up." I released all of her but one wrist so she couldn't really stand up.

"Fang, you said you'd let me get up," she complained.

"And I did," I said, playing slightly dumb. "Oh, did you mean let you go all the way?" I asked in a mock-confused voice.

"Fang," she warned, and I pulled her back down onto the floor, but on my lap this time. I started kissing her neck in the exact place she hated, but I knew that in a secret part of her mind, she loved it.

"Fang, please, stop," she begged as I started creeping around from her neck to her face, her chin, her cheeks, but I stopped before I got to her lips.

"Why should I stop?" I mumbled against her skin.

"Because I know where this'll lead," she whispered.

I rolled my eyes and kissed her lips, running my tongue against her lower lip, asking for an entrance. She opened her mouth slowly, and I stuck my tongue in. We stayed like that until Max pulled away.

"Fang," she said, quietly but harshly. "I told you to leave me alone, and I meant it!" she shoved me away and walked out of her little cave. I stayed frozen in place though. She really didn't forgive me? I saw her take a running leap and she flew off, heading back towards her home probably.

**A/N: Ok...what do you guys think? I've never actually kissed a guy, so I was making up how it was done 100. Please tell me how I did, and if anyone wants to know my motives on a specific part were, or has any questions, I'll answer them in my next update. The reviews I got made me really happy, and just so you guys know, the more reviews I get, the more often I'll update.**


	8. Ella, Fang, and Love

**A/N: Ok, here's chapter 8! I'm doing my best between practices, and today I got out early because a class was canceled! So I'll reward myself by typing another chapter!**

Max's POV:

I flew home and ran strait to my room. Well, I didn't exactly go through the house, actually. I just flew through my window so I wouldn't have to face Mom or Ella.

I lay face-down on my bed just crying and thinking. How could Fang even dare to try to say he's sorry when I'm so upset? I knew that he'd been in class when we learned, just today, that when a person is upset, you do not want to try to comfort them. When a person's upset is actually the _worst_ time to comfort them.

I heard a soft tap on my door, but I didn't look up or ask who it was.

"Max?" I heard my mother say through the door. "Max, are you ok?" I cleared my throat as quietly as I could before I responded.

"Yeah, Mom," I said in as normal a tone as I could. "I'm just doing my homework. You don't have to save me any dinner, I'm not hungry."

"Ok, I was just curious where you were because Ella said she didn't see you come home," Mom said. Shoot, I forgot that Ella got home earlier then me on Thursday's.

"I flew home," I said simply. Now just leave me alone, I wanted to say, but I knew that that would worry her.

"Oh, ok." I didn't lay back down until I heard Mom's footsteps heading down the stairs, but once I was sure she wasn't listening, I lied back on my bed on my side, looking out my window.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew my alarm clock was going off, telling me to get my lazy butt out of bed and get to school.

"Ugh," I groaned. School. That would mean having to see Fang again.

"Max, honey, time to get up," Mom said through my door with a loud knock. I made my voice sound as pitiful as I could before answering her.

"I don't feel so good," I crocked. "I feel like I'm about to puke. Can I stay home?"

"Sure, sweetie, but if you feel better just go strait to school, ok? I'll call and tell them that you'll be absent."

"Ok," I crocked quietly, putting my head back on my pillow. Ah, the wonders of being allowed to miss school for a day. There can't be a single thing in the entire world that's better.

Fang's POV:

I stood by Max's locker the next day, willing her not to skip school. I needed to talk to her. I had been such a jerk yesterday! I wanted to make sure that she would really forgive me. I waited as long as I could before the bell rang and headed to first period, thanking the school system that Max and I had the same schedules, but Max wasn't in class. She had stayed home sick.

I decided to ditch the rest of the day by faking I was sick so I could stop by her house. I had to see Max and apologize to her.

Max's POV:

I woke up at 12:47 by a tapping noise coming from my window. I groaned and rolled over, expecting to see a bird or something. I was really feeling sick by that point, so I didn't feel like shooing away the bird that was annoying me. I stayed on my back until I heard the tapping noise again. I sighed and turned my head to see what was at my window, and felt my anger from the day before return.

Fang was knocking on my window, and I could see him mouthing for me to open the window. I got up out of my bed and Fang back away slightly, expecting me to open my window for him to come in, but I just closed the shades and went back to my bed.

"Max, please," I heard Fangs muffled voice through my window. "Let's just talk." I let out an exasperated sigh and went over to my window again and stuck my hand under the shades and gave Fang the bird. I was really getting pissed off now.

I heard leaves being moved and risked a glance out of my window. I saw Fang taking off, finally, and I went back to me bed for the third time, flopped down, and tried to fall asleep again.

Of course, Ella's school had to end just then, so I heard the front door open. My heart froze. I heard people talking. Ella and... a guy.

"Yeah, I'll go see if she's awake," I heard Ella say, followed by the sound of her walking up the stairs. I made myself go limp and tried to look like I was sleeping. I heard my door crack open slightly, and I kept up my fake sleeping.

"Max? Are you awake?" Ella whispered. I didn't respond, and she closed my door. I heard her go back downstairs and say, "Sorry, she's sleeping right now," to whoever was in my house that wanted to see me.

"Do you think I could check?" Shit, Fang hadn't left. He must have seen Ella walking home and followed her so he could see me.

"Go ahead, but she might get annoyed if you wake her up," Ella warned.

"Don't worry," Fang said smoothly. "She'll probably be happy to see me." As if! At that moment, I didn't hate anyone more!

I turned my back towards my bedroom door and kept up my sleeping act. I didn't count on the fact that I might not hear him. My door had so many creaks in it; there was no possible way for him to open it without me hearing. Or so I thought.

I felt my bed shift slightly as more weight was added to it and I felt his body against mine. I turned my head to face him, and he put his lips against mine before I could even say a word.

My eyes closed on their own as Fang's tongue touched my lower lip and I allowed him an entrance without thinking. Our kiss deepened and I wound my arms around behind his neck, entwining my fingers into his hair, and pressed myself against him.

"Max, I really do love you," Fang murmured. "Rachel was there for me when I first started school, and she even knows how much I love you. I must have talked about you nonstop. Rachel understood me, and she actually told me to leave her so I could be with you." I was surprised. Rachel had asked him to leave so he could be with me? Did he really love me that much?

I rested my head against his shoulder for a few moments before he lifted my face back to his.

I broke our kiss when I started feeling dizzy and looked him right in the eye.

"Then why did you tell me she was just a friend?" I asked. "When you first mentioned her, you said that she was just a friend." Fang's face looked first surprised that I remembered, then sad, then ashamed.

"I didn't know how you'd react if you found out about her. I didn't want things to start badly for us before anything had even started," he said softly. I nodded slightly and brought my lips back up to his for a third time.

We broke apart again for air, and I put my head against his chest just to enjoy the moment.

Of course, Ella had to knock on my door just then.

"Max? Are you awake?" she asked through the door. Fang and I jumped into sitting positions before I answered.

"Yeah, Ella," I said. "Thanks for sending in F...Nick." I said Fang's body shake with silent laughter as I almost said his actual name. I punched his arm lightly and he tried to suppress his laughter, but he was still grinning. And, god, does he look so hot when he smiles. It's like...I don't know how to describe Fang's smile, but just know that he looks really awesome when he smiles.

"Ok, I wasn't sure if you were asleep or faking, and I wasn't sure if you liked him or not, so I wasn't sure if I should let him."

"Ok, thanks for sending him in," I said as politely as I could, putting every bit of go-away-now in my tone.

"Alright, could you tell Mom that I'm at Sara's when she gets home? We have a huge project due on Monday."

"Sure, Ella," I said. Man, I got annoyed really easily didn't I?

"Thanks!" I finally heard her run down the stairs and turned back to Fang.

"So, where were we?" he asked, putting a finger on his chin like he wasn't sure.

"I remember," I whispered, pressing my lips against his again, getting back into the same position on the bed, but on top of him this time.

My arms wrapped around his neck, and his arm encircled my waist, pulling me closer to him. I knew that we should probably stop, but I didn't want to.

I felt Fang slide his hand against my bare back, slipping up my shirt as he did. I felt his hands reach my bra clasp and undo it. I felt myself shiver slightly and I smiled against his lips. I knew this had to stop now, but I wanted it to go just a bit farther.

Fang slid off my shirt, and I put my hands on the hem of his shirt.

"Wait," I muttered after I had gotten Fang's shirt off. I got up and locked my bedroom door so no one could barge in, even though I knew my mother wouldn't be coming home until around 8:00 and Ella was staying at Sara's for the night.

I placed myself back on top of him and pressed my lips against him again, knowing all along that I had to stop myself before we went too far.

**A/N: Ok, so in the need to keep my story rated T, I had to stop there, but know that they **_**do**_** do it. I have the next chapter in my head, so don't worry. I'll update ASAP.**


	9. Something Fun?

**A/N: Here's chapter 9! So, I was planning to make this chapter like with Max finding out she's pregnant, and following my line that most of my stories go in, but I decided not to. I WILL change their ages, though. Instead of being 15, Max and Fang are both 17—juniors. I just had to make them old. Oh, also, Max is almost at her birthday. And, another thing, I know that Ella and Dr. Martinez met Fang (now that someone reminded me in a review), so just pretend that Ella knew who it was when he came to the door, ok? Also, I might, probably, maybe, will make them have a kid while they're still teens, and I'm not going to take a poll then.**

Max's POV:

The next morning, I woke up so happy and relaxed I don't even know how to explain it. I had to ask Fang to introduce me to Rachel—it's thanks to her that Fang came back to me, in part.

"Max, are you awake yet?" Mom asked as she knocked on my door.

"Yeah," I said, jumping out of bed and grabbing my clothes. I pulled off my pajamas and put on fresh underclothes. I took out a denim mini-skirt—the only skirt I owned—and put it on. I put a pair of shorts on underneath just in case. I took out a white blouse that cut-off right above my belly-button.

"Are you ready yet?" Ella asked through my door.

"Yup," I said, grabbing my book-bag and running out my bedroom door.

"Hyper today, huh?" Ella asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you and Fang enjoy last night?"

I froze for a second before I remembered that Ella shouldn't have any idea about what Fang and I had done. "Yeah." I answered shortly. "I have to go, I don't want to be late for school."

"More like you don't want to be late for Fang," I heard Ella mutter before running out the front door. I laughed a bit as I ran to where Fang said he would meet me. Ella's comment was so close to the truth, it was almost scary.

I arrived at our cave and sat down near the entrance and leaned my head against my knees, just in case he was late, so I could possibly catch up on my sleep.

"Hey," I heard from behind me after a few minutes. I smiled. Usually, I hated the way he could sneak up on me like that, but I was too happy to see him to really care that much.

"Hi, Fang," I said as I felt his hand gently brushing the hair off of my neck. I felt a chill go down my back and I looked up slightly. Fang put his other hand under my chin and tilted my head up so he could kiss me.

"Hey, why don't we do something _fun_ this weekend?" Fang murmured against my lips.

"Like what?" I asked him, putting my head against his chest.

"Why don't we go to New York? You can probably get permission to fly there easily, and my parents don't really care what the heck I do. We could see a Broadway play or see a movie or just tour the city," Fang suggested. I smiled.

"I'd like that," I said, leaning up to press my lips against his again.

"Go ask your mom now. I'll go ask mine," Fang said after we broke apart. He ran towards the exit of the cave, pulling me along with him.

"Meet back here once you get permission," I commanded him.

"I'll be here," he promised.

And with that, I flew off towards my mother's house.

**A/N: Yeah, I know. Sucky chapter. But I have a bit of an idea for the next few chapters, so no worries. I'll update soon.**


	10. New York?

**A/N: Ok, here's chapter 10! Tell me if you spot anything out of place that doesn't coincide with me previous chapters, ok? Thanks!**

Max's POV:

"Hey, Mom?" I yelled after I was sure that school would have ended so she wouldn't know that Fang and I had skipped.

"I'm in the kitchen, Max," I head her yell from the other room.

"Mom," I panted as I ran into the kitchen, "can I go to New York this weekend? We have off for Monday through Wednesday so the teachers can work on some report cards and grading scales and stuff," I lied. We did have off on Monday and Tuesday, but not Wednesday, and I didn't really know why we had off.

"Are you going to be going with anyone? I don't like the idea of you going alone on an airplane," Mom said. I stared at her.

"Umm, when I say, 'can I go to NY,' I don't mean by plane," I said, shaking my shoulders so she could see my wings.

"Oh!" she said, comprehension dawning on her face, "Oh, oh, oh! Right! So, you're not going with anyone." Mom sighed. "I would feel so much safer if you weren't alone in New York. I know that Fang lives around here. Could you go with him?" Mom suggested. I smiled inwardly.

"I'll ask him if he wants to come," I yelled over my shoulder as I ran out the door.

I jumped from the back porch into the air, hurrying to get back to my cave to meet with Fang.

Fang's POV:

"Mom?" I called into the kitchen, knowing that's where my mother would be.

"Yes, Fangy?" she called back as I walked into the kitchen. I scowled. She knew I hated being called that, but she always called me that anyways.

"I was wondering if I could go up to New York this weekend with a friend, if that's ok with you. I've gotten enough money from my job," I told her. I didn't mention that I had quit from my job after a week.

"You're going to New York?" I heard my little brother from behind me. "Can I go, too??" he asked.

"No, Joey," I told him. "My friend and I are planning to go see a Broadway play that's not appropriate for you." Meaning either RENT or Wicked.

"Aw, please?" he begged. "Mommy, make him take me," he said turning to my mother.

"Fangy, maybe you should take him. He's never seen New York," my mother pitched in.

"I only have enough money for two tickets; one for me and one for my friend," I lied. I didn't actually have any money, let alone enough for even one plane ticket.

"Oh, come on!" Joey whined "what friend is more important then you little sibling?" He pouted.

"A friend that I've known longer then this family," I said in a low, venomous voice.

My mother and younger brother looked surprised.

"You've lived with this family for longer then you've known any of your school friends," my mother said, unsure.

"False," I said, "do you remember that girl I was with when I found you?" I reminded her.

"Oh, yes, but she left and I checked the school roster when I put you there so you wouldn't have any heart ach," my mom told me.

I stared at her. "You made sure that I wouldn't be with Max when you enrolled me in school?" I asked.

"Well, yes. I didn't think it'd be good for you to be with her. She seemed like she was the one leading you to believe that parents, a real family, and a normal life is bad," she explained.

I stared at her, shocked, for a few more seconds before my thoughts caught up with me.

"She was right," I growled. My mother's face dropped. "Parents, family, so called 'normal' life _is_ bad." I turned and walked up to my room and packed all my important stuff. "I have no family," I said as I walked out the door.

I jumped and took off so I could fly to where Max was waiting.

**A/N: Sucky chapter, again, I know. I'll try to update again soon, but I've gotten a bit lazy about it...I just got the RENT soundtrack, by the way!! GO RENT!!!**


	11. I'll Cover You

**A/N: Remember, people: the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! I might not have time on Tuesday (performance by my school!) ...that my mom isn't going to be in town for...oh, well. here's this chapter. Enjoy!**

Max's POV:

I was listening to my iPod while I was waiting for Fang. I was listening to my RENT songs, to be more specific. God, I love RENT. I was listening to "Cover You" at that moment.

"_Live in my house,_

"_I'll be your shelter._

"_Just pay me back_

"_With one-thousand kisses._

"_Be my lover,_

"_And I'll cover you, yeah._

"_Open your door,_

"_I'll be your tenant._

"_Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet._

"_But sweet kisses I've got to spare._

"_I'll be there and I'll cover you._"

I felt one of the earphones get pulled out and I jumped.

"Not paying much attention, are you Max?" Fang whispered in my ear. I smiled and closed my eyes as he started kissing my neck, finding the one place he knew that I loved.

"Ooh," I moaned softly, but not soft enough to escape Fang's notice. Fang laughed a little and took the other earphone out.

"Well, are we going? My mother dearest disowned me," he told me. "So I don't have to worry about asking her for anything ever again."

"So soon after you found her?" I asked, shocked. "Well, at least you got to know her a bit before she did that to you," I said, trying to comfort him.

"It's fine. She was a real bitch anyway. She always called me 'Fangy,' even though she knew I hated it. Plus, my little bother, also known as a brother, was a pain in the ass," Fang told me.

"I didn't know you had a brother," I said, surprised.

"Trust me; you don't want to meet him."

"Well, now let's go. I brought Ella's iPod, too, in case you want to listen to any music. It has the same stuff as mine, only hers is white. Mine's black," I said, handing him my sister's iPod, but he didn't take it.

"Just put them in the bags. Let's fly," he said, taking my hand and leading me out of the cave.

I took a running leap and took off with Fang right behind me, and we started flying to New York; the city that never sleeps. Home of Broadway original plays; the best plays on Earth, including Wicked and RENT, the best of the best, in my opinion.

**A/N: And that's that chapter! So the next one will be where Max and Fang go to see a Broadway play. Just tell me which one it should be. It doesn't have to just be Wicked or RENT, it can be any. Those are just the ones I own soundtracks for ;) .**


	12. RENT, Ride, and Rememberance

**A/N: I decided to make them see RENT since that's the one with more songs. It starts out with them going to the play, getting their tickets and stuff.**

Max's POV:

"Come on, Fang! Just tell me what play you're taking me to see!" I whined in a whisper. He had gotten the tickets the day before and wouldn't tell me what we were seeing. I had narrowed down the possibilities to five; Wicked, RENT, The Lion King, Sweeny Todd (which I did NOT want to see—yuk!), or Grease. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be Sweeny Todd or Grease since Fang hadn't expressed any interest in either of those, so it was going to be Wicked, The Lion King, or, the one I was hoping for, RENT.

"Ticket, please," said the person behind the counter. Fang handed him two orange, green, blue and red tickets, and I could tell just from the art which play we were seeing. Fang had taken me to see RENT!

"Oh, my flipping god, Fang, thank you!" I practically screamed after we had started walking toward the theatre that RENT was playing in that day.

"It's no problem. You had brought it up in conversations several times, and you have the soundtrack, so I figured you should see the play," Fang said, explaining his reasoning.

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight. He went stiff for a second before wrapping his arms around me.

"It's starting!" I said in a loud whisper (**Does that make sense?**) as the lights dimmed.

(**I'm not 100 sure what time Mark actually said, so I'll fake it.**)

"9:45, Eastern Standard Time. From here on out I shoot without a script—see if anything comes of it, rather then my usual shit," Mark started singing out. I settled down in my chair, snuggling up against Fang's side for the rest of the play.

**AFTER THE PLAY ENDS**

Fang's POV:

I hadn't seen Max so content since the fight had ended—since before I had gone to my whore of a mother, who had had sex with another random guy to have my half-brother.

"Fang," Max said quietly, happily, "this has been one of the best nights of my life."

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and smiled halfway. "What was your favorite?" I asked her.

"Oh, come on," she said in a dubious tone. "You honestly can't guess?"

"Well," I said slowly, knowing exactly what night was her favorite. "If I thought about it long enough, would I be able to guess?"

"Fa-ang," Max whined. "I _know_ you also enjoyed that night!"

"You mean tonight?" I asked. Max rolled her eyes and started walking away.

"Ma-ax," it was my turn to whine. "You know I was just teasing, don't you?"

"I don't know. Do I?" I rolled my eyes this time.

"Come on," I said, leading Max down the street. "I made reservations at a hotel for the night. I had enough money to buy a nice suite."

"Where?" Max asked.

"Oh, just a small place," I said, stopping in front of the Broadway Plaza Hotel.

"_This_ is a small place?" Max asked as I led her inside. I just smiled.

"May I help you?" the attendant behind the desk asked.

"Reservation for 'Ride,'" I said. "It should be a suite, pre-paid."

"Ah, yes. Here it is. Room 346, third floor on the left side," said the attendant as he handed me the key.

"Thank you," I said as I took the key and led Max to the stairs.

"Wow, Fang," Max said as I opened the door to our room. "This is so amazing. Thank you," she said as I sat on the bed, pulling her next to me.

"The best part is that I told them I was 20, and they believed me," I said. "So they think that we're actually married." I laughed a little and Max smiled.

"I was surprised that you used 'Ride' to make the reservations," Max said, snuggling up next to me.

"Well, your last name is, officially, Martinez, and my 'official' last name _was_ Derquoi (**A/N: First thing that popped into my head. Don't laugh.**), but I disowned—I mean my slut of a mother disowned me," I caught myself, but Max noticed what I almost said.

"Fang, did she disown you or did you leave?" Max asked. I sighed.

"She had wanted me to take my half-brother with me here, since she thought I was actually going on a plane. I told her that I was going with you, and she told me that she had made sure that you _didn't_ go to the same school as me before she enrolled me because she thought you were a 'bad influence.' I left her and my half-brother, who was a brat, so I could be with you," I explained. I looked away from Max's face, knowing how much it had hurt her when I had first chosen to live with my mother rather then go with her to Dr. Martinez's. Knowing that she had let me go because she had thought I would be happier. Knowing that she hadn't wanted to let me go and that she had been hurt very badly when she thought I didn't love her anymore.

"Fang, did she really say that?" Max asked in a small voice, and I saw that she was toying with the golden locket I had given her when we'd parted.

"She did," I felt terrible admitting that I had left the person I had gone to when I had left Max; the person that Max had wanted me to be happy with.

I expected Max to say something—anything—but she didn't. She just stayed quiet. _Please say something_, I willed her in my head. _Say something—anything to break this silence_. She didn't though. After a few minutes I looked down at her face and saw she was staring off into space.

Max's POV:

"Fang, did she really say that?" I asked in a small voice. My hand went to the locket that Fang had given me when he'd left me to live with his mother.

"She did," Fang said after a brief pause. I could hear how guilty he felt. I stared off, remembering the day he had found where his mother lived and asked her if her could get to know her, his mother.

_Flashback:_

"Fang, are you sure you want to do this?" I had asked him for the hundredth. We were standing in front of his mother's house and I could see a small boy's face appearing in the window every few seconds, watching us.

"Yeah," Fang had said in a tight voice. "I want to meet my mom."

I led him up the steps and was about to knock on the door when Fang took my hand.

"Max, I just want you to know, I'll always love you," he said, leaning down to kiss me. His hands twisted around my neck and put something around it. "Who knows if we'll ever see each other again after today? If I never see you again, always, please, always remember that I love you," he said as we broke apart. I looked down to see what he had put around my neck and saw a fine, golden locket, about as big as my thumb, in the shape of a heart.

"Fang," I was about to say, but the door opened.

"Can I help you?" a woman in about her early 30's asked. "My son says that you've been standing out here for about twenty minutes."

"Yes," I started. "About fifteen, sixteen years ago, did you loose a son?" I asked her.

"Yes," the woman said, a sad look crossing her face. "I hadn't even been able to name him yet when the doctor said that he had died."

"Well, that doctor lied," I informed her. "See this guy?" I pointed at Fang. "This is Fang. According to our searching, you're his mother." Fang stepped forward and I could really see the similarities between them; same hair color, same mouth set, almost the same skin color.

"This is my son?" the woman whispered.

"According to about six or seven years of searching, yes," Fang said.

"My name's Alexandra Derquoi, by the way," the woman said quietly. "Are you really my first baby?"

Fang nodded.

Alexandra stepped forward and wrapped Fang in a hug.

"Thank you for bringing him home..." Alexandra paused.

"Max," I told her. "My name's Max."

"Thank you for bringing home my first baby, Max," she said with a smile. I forced a return smile, but I could feel that it was wrong. I looked at Fang.

"I'll see you later, Fang," I said softly, my voice breaking. Fang looked guilty, but nodded. Just nodded. Not a word.

I turned and walked away. As soon as I heard the door close I ran to the nearest wooded area so I could fly off and cry in the air, away from anyone else.

_End Flashback_

I jumped as I my mind caught up with my body. I was lying down next to Fang, his strong, protective arms wrapped around me. I could feel that his shirt was warm and wet—from my tears, I realized with a jolt.

I snuggled closer to Fang and tried to fall back to sleep, but it was impossible with my memories of when Fang had left me so fresh in my mind. Stupid, stupid, stupid dream! Why did I have to dream about when Fang had left? Why?!? He was back with me, and that was all that mattered. What's past is past!

I felt my eyes start to tear slightly as I remembered how hurt I had been when he'd chosen his mother over me. No! Bad Max! Don't think about that, or you'll never get back to sleep! I scolded myself. I turned on my other side, putting my back against Fang's chest, and tried to get back to sleep.

I glanced at the clock. 3:29. I got out of bed and decided to take a shower to get my mind off of the nightmare I had just had.

I went into the bathroom and turned the water on hot, thanking the management that the water came out almost silently.

I turned the water on hot—as hot as it could. I was freezing, so the heat didn't bother me much. After a few minutes, though, I turned the heat down since it was burning my skin.

The water made rivulets between my wings; it soaked my feathers, making them feel so comfortable.

I got out of the shower about ten minutes later; relaxed and exhausted, I put my pajamas back on and lied down next to Fang, snuggling as close to him as I could.

I felt Fang's lips against my head and jumped. He laughed quietly.

"You don't think I would notice that you'd gotten up?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I was hoping that I hadn't woken you up," I said.

"I was already awake when you had gotten up, actually," he admitted. "You had only just stopped crying at about 3:00." Fang paused for a second before adding, "What were you thinking or dreaming about, anyway?"

"Nothing," I told him, "I was just having a nightmare." A terrible nightmare that had happened less then three years ago, I thought.

"About what?" Fang asked.

"I don't really remember," I lied, which was stupid since Fang can usually tell when I'm lying, but he let it drop. Or so I thought.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Fang persisted. I sighed.

"Really, Fang, I hardly even remember what my dream was about," I lied again, but the lie came easier this time. Fang rubbed circles slowly between my wings and that, on top of my exhaustion, made me fall asleep almost instantly.

**A/N: Wow...Long chapter. Tell me what you think! I, personally, really like how this chapter turned out. It took about...2 or 3 days to write, but I finally got it done! Tell me what you think about the flashback part. The more reviews I get, the sooner I update, so PLEASE REVIEW!**


	13. A Good First Date

**A/N: Ok, here's this chapter! I hope you like it! I've been waiting all weekend to be able to use my home computer to write this chapter!**

Max's POV:

"Fang," I complained, "really, why can't you just tell me where we're going?"

It was the next morning and Fang was insisting that he take me to a "certain place" so we could to "something special." I was really annoyed at him because, honestly, what could be better then what we had done at my house just a week ago?

"Max, just trust me; this'll be worth it," he promised.

"Well, I'll probably hate it if I don't know what it is," I told him, which he should have known was true.

"Fine," Fang sighed after a few minutes. "I'm not going to tell you exactly what we're doing, but I'll give you a small hint; I bought _four_ Broadway tickets when we came here."

"We're going to see another musical?" I asked, excited. Fang smiled.

"Yup," he said. "But don't ask which one. I want it to be a surprise."

"Is it going to be RENT again?" I asked, praying that he'd so...

"No," Fang said.

"The Lion King?" I guessed.

"Guess again."

"Please don't saw it's Hairspray; the movie sucked."

"Well, lucky for you, it's not. And I'm surprised you haven't guessed yet," he said. "But stop trying to guess, ok? I really want it to be a surprise!"

"Fine," I sighed. Fang put his arm around my waist and led me up to the counter.

"Tickets, please," the receptionist said, looking up. "Hey, weren't you here last night?"

"Yes," Fang said, handing the guy two tickets that he was holding face down so I couldn't see them. Damn.

The guy looked at the tickets and said, "Theater 7." (**A/N: I've never actually been to a Broadway play, so I don't know if it's actually set up with more then one theater.**)

Fang led me over to where the theater was and—lucky for him—it was already dark.

Then I heard the music. The wonderful—_wicked_ly wonderful music. Fang had bought tickets for WICKED!!!

"OMG, Fang, is this, what I think it is?!?" I whispered. Fang pressed his lips against my head.

"Yup," he said, and I could feel him smiling, "this is _exactly_ what you think it is. Do you really think I'd forget your birthday?" Whoa...He remembered my birthday when _I_ had forgotten my birthday! How weird is that?!

"Oh my god, Fang! Thank you!!" I leaned closer to him and pressed my lips against his.

**AFTER THE PLAY**

"Wow," I said as we walked out of the theater.

"So I take it you enjoyed the play?" Fang asked.

"It was just...wow," I said again.

"Do you want to take a carriage ride back to the hotel via Central Park?" Fang asked.

"Yeah," I said, excited now.

Fang went over to one of the horse-drawn carriages and paid the conductor for a ride and helped me in, not that I needed help.

"So, just out of curiosity, what brought all this on?" I asked after a minute.

"Can't I just be nice?" Fang asked in a would-be-normal tone except, oh yeah, Fang _never_ acted this way. I gave him an oh-come-on look and he laughed.

"You really want to know?" Fang asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said.

"Well, I figured, since we haven't ever gone on a date, in the technical terms, I wanted to take you out on one," Fang told me.

"Oh, Fang, that's so sweet!"

"I thought so. I figured, what better time to take you out then on your birthday? Of course, you missed mine. Not that I told you. My ex-mother told me when my real birthday was, and I'm actually about four months _older_ then you, rather then four moths _younger_, like we'd thought before—" Fang stopped. I knew why, and I was happy he had, I didn't want to talk about the flock. I hadn't seen any of them since they had found families.

"So I missed your 18th birthday?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I have an idea of how you can make it up to me," Fang said. The carriage had stopped in front of our hotel and he was helping me out.

"Oh? How can I make it up to you that I missed your birthday?" I asked, already having an idea of what he was thinking.

Fang smiled. "How do you think?" He asked as we walked up the steps to the third floor.

"I don't know," I played, "why don't you tell me?" Fang opened the door, led me in, closed the door again, and locked it so we wouldn't be interrupted as I took off my clothes and got under the blanket. Fang joined my and took off his shirt, turning it inside out, and got under the blanket with me after he had finished getting undressed.

"You ready?" he whispered in my ear.

"You have no idea," I whispered back, pressing myself against him as he leaned down to kiss me.

**A/N: Alrighty! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had to make them go to another play since I really wanted them to be able to see WICKED. Please review! More reviewssooner update. Use common sense and REVIEW!!!!**


	14. Uh, Oh

**A/N: So... Posting after seven reviews isn't so bad, is it? I hope not. Anyway, I'll go with waiting a little while before making it happen. "It" meaning making Max have a kid. I really wish you guys would want that since that's, like, my trademark-ish. Or not. So I'll wait awhile before asking again. At least three chapters. Remember; Review!**

Fang's POV:

God, I love Max. I love how she made love, I love how she acts, I love how she looks, god, I even love how she _smells_. She's almost like a goddess, in some ways. She had to have had the best birthday ever. I know that if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't have gone to sleep. Of course, if the roles were reversed that'd be REALLY weird.

I felt Max shiver and I felt tears run down her face onto my chest. I looked down to see if she was awake, but she wasn't.

"Fang," she whispered. "Fang...no, please!" Max was having the same nightmare as the night before. Those same words had come out last night. Would she say more tonight?

"Fang..." Max mumbled, turning over roughly. I held her against me and she seemed to cry harder. "Fang, no! Don't leave me!" she said in a louder tone.

"No...no, please! Fang! Please, don't leave me!" Her hand shot up to the locket I had given her. So that's what was making her so upset. She was remembering when I had left her.

"Max, shhh, its ok," I whispered, stroking her hair.

"No..." Max mumbled. "No... Fang!" Max started thrashing, trying to break my hold on her, but I help fast. "No..." she muttered, softer this time. "Fang, be happy." Max started shivering as if she were standing in an ice-storm.

I shut my eyes, just in case she woke up as she had last night. Which she did, not even five minutes after I had gone into my faux-sleep.

"Fang!" she jumped and I felt the pillow move, so she must have turned to look at me. I heard her sigh and she got up as quietly as she could and walked to the bathroom, a change of clothes in hand.

I heard the quiet water go on and the shower door opened.

I stayed awake, listening to the water in the shower. I knew that Max wouldn't stay in there for longer then twenty minutes, fifteen of which had already passed, and I wasted the time by remembering the first time we'd "slept" with each other. Max had seemed much more hesitant before. I looked at my watch and turned it to the date. It was Sunday, so tomorrow we had to fly back to Arizona for school. I heard the shower water turn off and got out of bed to put some pajama bottoms on, at the very least.

Just as Max opened the door, I closed my eyes to pretend I was asleep again. She didn't come back into the bed, though. She went over to the desk and I heard the drawer open. She shuffled through some stuff for a second until she evidently pulled something out and closed it. I heard scratching as Max started writing something on whatever she pulled out of the desk. A diary? No, Max wasn't that petty. A note? Was Max unable to deal with her dreams so much so that she had to feel like she needed to write a note? Was she going to leave? I silently got up and looked over her shoulder. God, she smelled so good after her shower, but I had to focus and not let her see or hear me.

I read what she was reading over her shoulder and paid attention.

"_Dear Fang,_" she wrote.

"_If you get this message, I'm at Central Park. I needed some fresh air. If you don't then, obviously, I'm in bed with you._"

Max looked at what she read and crossed out the last sentence.

"_Please don't be worried. I just needed to think for a bit. Don't ask about why I left either, please. I'd really rather not talk about that._

"_Come as soon as you get this note._

"_All my love forever, Max_"

Max looked over her note for a few seconds and I took that chance to run back to the bed without making any noise.

Evidently, though, I hadn't been quiet enough.

"Fang," Max whispered, "are you awake?" I tried to make a show of just waking up before answering.

"Uh, yeah," I said in a sleepy voice. "Why? What's wrong?" Max sighed.

"Nothing," she said, and I could see that she was crumpling something in her hands, but I didn't mention it. "I'll be right back, ok? I just need to go flying. Alone," she added as I started to get up to go with her. "I'll be back soon, ok, Fang?" She came over and kissed me before leaving.

"I'll be back soon," she said again. She put on some clothes and a windbreaker on top.

As she walked out the door, I realized something; she had taken a windbreaker _without_ slits for her wings. I had brought two without slits for just in case I took her to dinner somewhere that slits in the back would alert security. But Max didn't know that I was planning to take her out to dinner.

Max's POV:

I was so confused. Since when would Fang just let me go out, on my own, and, to top that, without him? Was Ella right? Had I started a habit of talking in my sleep? Had I said something that told him I was dreaming about when he had left me? No—Fang had just woken up when I had said his name. But if he was that light of a sleeper, how could he not have heard me write the note?

I looked down at my hand where the note was still clutched.

"Hey, baby," I heard from behind me.

There were about five dirty, burly guys who were probably in their early 20's.

I made a show of looking around, as if looking for another girl.

"Oh, I think you're mistaken. I'm _no one's_ 'baby,'" I said, not letting my voice betray that I was a bit scared.

"No, I think you're the chick we've been trailing," another thug said.

"She is!" a third gang member added. "And she's finally come out without her boyfriend!"

"Excuse me, I have to go now. Not that this conversation didn't make me happy that I've never skipped a day of school," I said, and I saw one of the guys try to figure that out. I tried to unfurl my wings, but my wings hit against something; the back on my windbreaker. Fang had brought one that didn't have slits!

Shit, now I was scared. I started walking away from the gang, but one of them came in front of me and I felt two arms grab my back.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard the first guy ask.

"Home; back to my husband," I lied.

"I don't think so." I felt the arms holding me pullback and throw me on the ground.

"You know where I think you're going?" the gang member asked. "With us," the guy looked at one of his peers and the other thug took out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Why don't you do the honor of writing your boyfriend's note? It's a letter demanding ransom," the thug member said, handing me the pen and paper. The gang head still had a hold on my side, so I didn't have any other choice but to write what he told me to.

"Write, 'dear boyfriend.' Write it now." I wrote as quick as I could, writing Fang's name. "'This is,' write your name. 'I can't say where I am, but if you ever want to—' ugh, you write too slowly," the thug member said, snatching away the paper and pen and writing the ransom note himself.

"Now," the gang leader said with a wicked smile. "Why don't we prepare you to meet up with your boyfriend?"

"Why don't you learn what breath mints are?" I retorted, which was not smart. All that got me was another yank by my arms from the gang leader, who was holding me.

"Let's go," the gang leader said to his peers, putting a blindfold around my eyes. "Can't let the little babe stay here, cold, all night," the thug paused. "I'm first, just so everyone remembers." Oh no. No, no, no! They couldn't do this!

"Hey, calm down, babe. If you don't, I might hurt you accidentally," the thug warned, but I ignored him. I tried to break their grasp, but all I got for that was a hit on my head.

The walk to the gang's hideout was dreadful, but what they did inside was even worse. The thug leader threw me against something—a bed—and I felt hands start to creep around my jeans.

"No!" I shrieked. "No, no, no, no! Let me go, now!!" I heard the thugs laugh as their leader took off my jeans and I felt his one of his hands caressing my legs as his other hand took off my underwear. I screamed, praying to god that someone would hear me.

"Babe, you gotta be quiet," the thug leader said as one of his peers hit the side of my head. I felt the leader get on top of me and his bare legs touched mine, but not in the good way that Fang's did. "Spread your legs, babe," he demanded.

"No," I cried, twisting my calves together. The thug pulled my legs apart, harshly, and I screamed again.

**A/N: Oooh, evil cliffy! What will happen to Max? Will Fang find the ransom letter in time? Wait and see!!**


	15. Grand, Rescue, and Thoughts

**A/N: And here's chapter 15! I hope you enjoyed my evil cliffy! Evil laughter**

Fang's POV:

I glanced at the clock again. Max had been gone for nearly an hour. I decided to go fly to the park to see where she was.

"Where is she," I muttered to myself.

"Are you Nick?" I heard a gruff guy's voice ask from behind me.

"Sometimes, who wants to know?" I asked.

"A girl named Max," the dirty guy told me.

"Where is she?"

"Oh, she's somewhat safe—for now. I was told to give a guy named Nick Ride this note," he said, extending his hand to give it to me. I opened the note promptly and read;

"_Nick Ride-_

"_No doubt you're wondering where your girlfriend is. Well, I've got her. If you ever want to see her again, give the guy who gave you this note, oh, say, three grand and he'll scurry over here and save your chick._

"_I guess I'll warn you, though, that she might be dead by the time you find her, either dead or spent whichever._

"_You might want to hurry, though._

"_-Leader of the Dark Wings_"

I looked up at the guy and pulled thirty hundreds out of my back pocket.

"Take me to wherever you're holding Max, now," I growled.

"Trust me, dude, you probably don't want to see her when I get her," the guy said, and I could see that he didn't agree with his gang leader. "That's why I stayed here. You don't want to see what they're doing. Stay here and I'll bring your girlfriend to you within the hour."

He turned as started walking away and I, being worried about what he meant by I didn't want to see what they were doing to Max, followed him silently.

Max's POV:

I was so tired. The head thug had been terrible, and they were letting me have a break before the second thug started. I didn't dare fall asleep, but I was exhausted. When would Fang get here? I couldn't stand another thug doing this to me.

"Hey, boss," a new voice spoke. "We got the cash. Nick paid in _cash_. Should I bring him his chick now?"

"Are you kidding?" another thug asked. "I haven't had my turn yet!"

"You don't need to bring her to me," I heard. I couldn't see where he was, since I was too weak to even keep my eyes open. I heard several bodies fall on the floor and I felt Fang's gentle, soft hands pick me up. He took a blanket and wrapped it around my waist.

"Fang," I said weakly before passing out.

Fang's POV:

It was incredibly hard for me to take Max and just leave those goddamned thugs. Alive.

"Fang," Max whispered in my arms. I looked down at her sweaty face and saw she was asleep. I can't believe I had let her go out alone! I hadn't even followed her!

I flew through the window in our hotel room and called 911. I told them the location of the Dark Wings gang and the police offered me a huge reward; they had been looking for the Dark Wings' hideout for five years. I accepted the reward, a huge sum of 20 grand, and they asked how I discovered the hideout. I told them the whole story of following the thug, leaving out what they'd done to Max. I told them my bank account and asked them to deposit the reward there.

"Fang," Max mumbled after I had gotten off the phone.

"Shh, Max, it's ok. I've got you now. You're going to be fine," I said, stroking her hair.

Max shivered and moved closer to me.

"Fang," Max whispered again. I could feel tears start to fall from her eyes and helped her sit up.

"Max, what exactly did they do to you?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know.

"Oh, Fang, the head, their leader, and the other if they'd had the chance... Terrible," Max cried.

"Max, what did they do to you?" I asked again.

"Rape," she cried. "They'd been following me... I didn't have slits for my wings... They were all going to...Oh, Fang!" Max started crying harder and I held her closer.

"Shh, Max, it's ok. I've got you now. Those thugs are going to be behind prison bars for a long time," I said as I rubbed circles between her wings.

"Fang, never let me go," she whispered before falling asleep in my arms.

"I won't," I promised. I'd never let her go. I mused over a few small things before making up my mind. I wouldn't leave her, and she might always be with me.

**A/N: Ah, what's Fang thinking about? Please review and I'll post the next chapter soon! After I type it up, of course. But, really, please, please, please, please, REVIEW!!!**


	16. Do You Love?

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Some of you may still be pondering about what Fang was thinking at the end of the last chapter, and I'll let you know in this chapter. Maybe. Evil laugh. Don't worry, though. It's nothing **_**bad**_**, per-say. Unless you're Renee from somewhere, then it's really bad. But I'll let you figure that out for yourself.**

Fang's POV:

The next morning I let Max sleep in as I went down the street looking for a shop I had noticed when we were taking the carriage ride. Where was it?

Max's POV:

I woke up and looked at the clock. It was half-past 12:00. I was about to get up when the memories of the night before came back. I shuddered. That was the worst I'd ever been through. Worse then when whitecoats had experimented on me, worse then when Fang and I had split the flock, worse then any Eraser fight I'd ever had.

I felt my eyes start to tear up and I turned back into my pillow and cried for a few minutes.

Where's Fang? I wondered after I had stopped crying. He said he'd never leave me again!

As I was thinking that, Fang walked through the door.

"Max, you're awake!" he said, surprised.

I nodded.

"Are you ok? I was hopping to get back sooner, but I had trouble with directions," he said, kissing my forehead.

"Where were you?" I asked quietly. I saw Fang smile.

"I was making reservations somewhere for a very, very special occasion," Fang said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Would you like to see?" Fang asked me.

"Yes," I said, really curious.

"I'll take you there now, then." Fang took my hand and pulled me off of the bed and led me toward the door.

"Fang, really, where are you taking me and what's a 'special occasion' in your definition?" I asked.

"Don't worry. You'll love it," Fang said with a smile. He led me over to where a white horse-drawn-carriage with a snow-white Lipizzaner horse was waiting.

Fang paid the conductor and helped me in. Evidently, the driver knew where we were going, because he smiled at me.

"Fang, really, where are you taking me?"

"Well, technically, we're already where I was taking you. It's just a matter of what we're doing. Or, more specifically, what _I_'m doing." Fang swallowed. "Max, I love you. You know that, right?"

"Of course," I told him, still confused.

"I love you, Max. I've always loved you, even before Jeb had rescued us from the School when we were 10. I know now that you love me, and I have one question." Oh, my god, was he going to ask? He was! "Max," Fang got down on one knee and took something out of his back pocket—a ring. It was a beautiful ring with a gold band and a diamond in the cut of a heart and two small amethysts on either side. "Will you marry me?"

I felt my heart pick up speed and I had trouble breathing for a minute before I was able to reply.

"Yes," I whispered, smiling. Fang smiled at me and slid the ring on my left hand.

"I love you so much, Max," Fang whispered as he sat down next to me and kissed me. I looked down at my ring and smiled. I was going to be married!

I looked out at the park, my hand entwined with Fang's, and I saw something that made my heart stop. I recognized where we were. There was yellow "Do Not Cross" tape all around the area. I police leading men in handcuffs out of a small hole. I recognized the man they were leading out at the moment. It was the thug that had raped me.

Fang must have noticed my change in stance because he held me closer.

"I called the police and told them about where they were," Fang whispered in my ear. At that moment, the gang leader looked over at where Fang and I were and smiled snidely at me. I felt myself first get terrified, and then bold. I looked the gang leader right in the eye and gave him the bird.

"Drive us back to the hotel, please," I heard Fang ask the driver, "quickly."

Once we were back at the hotel, I went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Fang's POV:

After Max went into the shower, I started packing up. It would take us about two days to get back to Arizona and we had to go back to school on Thursday, and it was already Monday.

"Fang, we should get back home," Max said. "I want to be able to tell my mom about our good news." Max smiled and looked back down at her ring.

"I was actually just thinking about that," I said. "What should our last name be?"

"Well, I think it should be Ride. Or Derquoi, if you want to use your mother's last name," Max said.

"Ride," I said, "Fang and Maximum Ride." I smiled at Max as she came over to sit next to me on the bed.

"This has been the best week ever," she whispered before pressing her lips against mine.

"We really should go check out now," I said after we broke apart.

"Let's go," Max whispered, picking up her bag. I noticed for the first time three big, ugly bruises were on her leg.

"Max," I said, "what happened?" Max looked down at her leg and shivered.

"That's a 'gift' from the gang leader," she said. "It's from a last night."

I knelt down and touched her leg, kissing where the bruises were.

"If I had known about the bruises, I wouldn't have left them alive. I would have called the police to tell them where the dead bodies were," I said.

"Fang, I'll feel much better when we're in the air," Max said. I nodded and took her arm so we could go downstairs.

As I turned in the key, people stared at Max, and I could understand why. She looked as though she hadn't slept at all last night, she had three huge bruises on her leg, and she had a bruise on the side of her face, and a ring. Max had a ring from me, showing that she was mine, and only mine.

Max and I went out behind the hotel and I let Max take off first and I followed into the air shortly after. She was right; we _did_ have wonderful news for our parents.

**A/N: Ok! Also, I just thought of a HUGE twist for the next chapter!!! Please review! Let's see if I can get up to 100 reviews!!!**


	17. Parents

**A/N: Here's chapter 17! I hope you like my little twistyness!**

Max's POV:

I was still weak from my encounter with the gang leader, but I was mucho excited-o about telling Mom that I was engaged.

When Fang and I landed in front of my house, I ran to the door and opened it, running in to find Mom and Ella to tell them.

"Mom," I yelled as I ran through the house.

"I'm in here," I heard from the living room.

"Mom, I have the absolute BEST news to tell you!" I said. Mom turned off the TV and turned to look at me.

"What's your news?" Ella asked. She was sitting next to Mom.

"Well, it's not only my news," I said, smiling, "it's also Fang's news."

"Max, please, _please_, tell me you're not pregnant," Mom begged.

"No, but I might be in a year," I said. I lifted up my hand and continued. "I'm engaged!"

"Oh, my god, Max, no way!" Ella shrieked, rushing over to hug me. "Congratz!!!"

"Oh, Max! Congratulations!" Mom said, also coming over to hug me. "Congratulations, Fang!" Mom pulled Fang into the hug and I laughed. Fang was _not_ a hug-y type of person.

"Have you told your mother yet, Fang?" Mom asked.

"No, but I probably should go tell her now," Fang said. "Do you want to come with me, Max?"

"Yes," I said. "I'll be back tonight so we can celebrate."

"Ok, I'll call Jeb and see if he wants to come over to hear the good news," Mom said. Wow, I'd almost forgotten about Jeb.

"Alright, I'll see you soon!" I said with another hug before running outside with Fang to fly to his mother's house.

Fang's POV:

I was so happy that Max was happy. I wasn't so excited about telling my mom, but it couldn't hurt. And, hey, maybe I'd have a mother to walk me down the isle.

"Fang!" My mother called as she ran outside having seen me. "Fang, I found your father!"

"What?" Ok, I was _not_ expecting that.

"He was arrested recently as a gang member in New York," my mother said. Oh, no, this could _not_ be happening.

"What gang?" Max asked, and I could hear that she was thinking the same thing as me.

"He was the head of a gang called Dark Wings. He used his one call to call me, so I gave him bail. He's coming to live here in a few days," Mom said, smiling. "You'll be able to meet your father, Fangy!"

"Dark Wings?" Max asked quietly.

"Yes," my mother said. She obviously caught that something was going on. "Why? Was there a problem while you were in New York?"

"Mom, I was the one who called the police with that Dark Wings' location," I said. "The gang had raped Max."

"Oh," she said. "Well, you're father would never take part in anything like that. When I was with him when I had you, he was a perfect gentleman. And, boy, was he good in bed."

"Alexandra, the gang leader _raped me_. Meaning this man. Meaning, I might be pregnant with my fiancé's _father's_ child!" Max cried. My mother looked surprised.

"Your fiancé?" she asked, confused.

"Yes," I said. I held up Max's hand, showing her the ring.

"Where did you get the money to buy that?" my mother asked, shocked.

"From the reward for turning in the Dark Wings and telling the police their hideout," I told her.

"You turned your own _father_ into the police?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, I didn't know he was my father, you nimrod! And he _deserves_ to be behind prison bars!" I yelled at her.

"You haven't even had the chance to meet him properly!" my mother argued. "I bet if you got to know him, you'd be great friends. He should be here any minute now."

"Mom, he _raped my future wife_. What part about that do you not get?! I don't even _want_ to meet him!" I yelled. "Come on, Max. Let's get back to your mother's house." I led Max away from where my mother was standing just as an SUV pulled up to the curb in front of her house.

"Oh, no," I heard Max whisper.

"Max, come on. We'll go this way," I said, turning around and walking towards my mother's backyard. We'd be able to take-off from there and fly back to her mother's house.

One problem; I'd forgotten that my mother had a fenced-in backyard. Max and I wouldn't be able to get over it fast enough.

"Oh, Tom," I heard my mother say from the front of the house. "You'll never guess who's here! You remember how I'd had our son eighteen years ago? The doctors had told us he was dead, but the doctor lied! Would you like to meet him?"

"Max, do you trust me?" I asked quietly.

"I trust you, Fang," she whispered back. At the same time, I heard a man's voice from the front of the house say, "Yeah, where is he?"

I took Max around the waist and threw her over the fence. The coarse wire scratched her leg, but she didn't stop to see if it was bleeding until she was out of sight from where I was standing, and I was thanking my mother that she had never cut down the trees in her backyard.

"Fang," I heard from right behind me. I turned around and saw my mother standing with a man, who I recognized as the gang leader. "Fang, this is your father, Tom." My mother smiled, evidently she expected me to like him because he was my father, but I just glared daggers at him.

"Fang?" the man asked. "It's nice to meet you." The man smiled at me, and I could see that he was missing a few teeth.

"Oh, I think we've already met in New York," I growled. "I saved my fiancé from your gang, remember? And I made the call to the police that put you behind bars."

The man looked surprised for a second before recovering. "I've never lived in New York my entire life," he lied. "I was arrested in New Jersey for robbery."

"What was her hair color?" I threw at him.

"Dirty-blond," Tom said without thinking. I pulled my arm back and punched him in the nose, making it bleed.

"That was for Max," I said in a low, venomous voice.

"Damn!" he yelled, grabbing his nose. "If you had been in my gang, you'd have been leader within a month!"

"I'd never have joined your gang, you scumbag!" I yelled, catching his chest in a roundhouse kick.

"Fang!" my mother shrieked. "Fang, stop this right now! You might kill him!"

"Well, that's kind of the point," I said as I landed another punch on the side of Tom's head.

"At least make it fair! Let him defend himself!"

"Fine," I said, stepping back. Tom stood up strait and pulled back his arm, throwing a punch that I easily dodged. I then turned around and hit his neck with my foot, breaking it.

"No!" my mother cried.

"Fang, you're a good fighter," he coughed and spat blood out of his mouth. "And your wife," he laughed weakly, "she was _fun_," he whispered before his eyes rolled up into his head.

"Burn in hell," I muttered before turning to and jumping over the fence that stood between me and Max.

**A/N: So... Who liked my twistyness? Thanks you to all those who reviewed and helped me get to 100+ reviews!! I love y'all! And remember to review even more!!!**


	18. Cookies!

**A/N: Ok, this is the first chapter I've written for this story in my notebook and not on my computer! That could either be good, or bad. Let's see if I write better on a computer or in a notebook. Enjoy!**

Max's POV:

My leg was bleeding, but not enough for me to worry about. I had been waiting for about twenty minutes. Where was Fang? He couldn't have gotten hurt, could he? Oh, god, did that gang leader hurt him? I sat down on the ground and waited.

After I few minutes, I heard Alexandra, Fang's mother, cry out. Oh, no, did that mean the gang leader, his own father, had hurt him? I curled up, pulling my legs to my chest and resting my chin on my knees.

A few minutes later, I heard a crack, like bones being broken, and Alexandra cry, "Fang!" and something else, but I couldn't hear what. Fang! That rapist had hurt Fang! I put my forehead against my knees and waited. I heard someone walking through the underbrush and braced myself, praying that I had misunderstood Alexandra's cry.

I felt Fang's hand on the back of my neck and sighed in relief.

Fang brushed the hair off of my neck and I turned to look at him. He didn't even have a scratch on him. I smiled, and Fang picked my head up so my lips could reach his.

I felt Fang's tongue brush my lower lip and allowed him entrance, gladly.

"We should get back to your Mom's now," Fang panted after we broke apart, and I nodded.

Fang got up and took my hand to help me join him.

We got back to my house and, even from outside, I could smell the delicious scent. Was Mom was baking, dare I hope—yes! Cookies!

Twenty-five cookies and a few minutes later:

Fang and I were in my room on my bed.

Well, more _in_ then on, really. Both of us were in really good moods, so I had locked my bedroom door.

"Max," Fang muttered against my leg where a bruise his father had given me was. "Max, I love you."

I brought Fang's face up to mine so I could kiss his lips.

"I bet I love you more," I whispered.

"Even with my slutty-whore of a mother and rapist bastard of a father?" Fang asked sadly as he kissed up my calf.

"You didn't choose your parents," I whispered as I kissed along Fang's well-formed chest.

Of course, someone had to knock just then.

"Max," Mom said through the door. "If you're not busy, Jeb's here."

"Thanks," I said after I had caught my breath. "I'll be down soon." I heard Mom go back downstairs and then got back to Fang. Neither of us was completely undressed, but we both knew that we wanted to be. I felt Fang's warm hands slide around my back to undo my bra-clasp, and I laughed a bit at his fumbling.

"Need help?" I whispered, sliding my arms out and twisting my bra so the clasp was in the front where Fang could se what he was doing. He muttered something that sounded like, "they should make these easier," and I laughed again.

"What?" Fang asked between kisses.

"Nothing, it's just," I said as I kissed him back, "if they made bras easier to unclasp, how much easier would it be for gangs, like the Dark Wings, to rape girls like me."

"Touché," Fang muttered as he reached around my back to stroke my wings. I shivered and wrapped my arms around his neck so I could touch the top of his wings.

"We should go downstairs soon," I whispered.

"Just...a bit...longer," Fang muttered against my neck between kissed.

"Come," I said as I got up, putting on my jeans and shirt after putting my bra back on.

"Max, just a bit longer," Fang pleaded.

"No," I said, grabbing his shirt and throwing it at him. "We need to tell Jeb our good news." I waved the ring he had given my in front of his face so he'd catch my drift. Fang sighed and got up as I pulled him toward my door.

**A/N: So, how was it? Should I stick to writing this story on the computer, or in my notebook, or both? Remember to review!!**


	19. Results, Baby

**A/N: Alright! 38 votes! Some of the reviews I couldn't understand what all three votes were, so that's why there aren't 39 votes. To those of you who are curious, my own story/future book is just about a normal girl named Leah and how she and a guy named Tobias become boyfriend and girlfriend. I hope I can get it published. Anyway, I know you guys want the poll results, so here they are!**

**Question 1: It was really easy to tally this one up. Fang10; Tom1.**

**Question 2: Pretty close, before7; after5. Ok, REALLY close.**

**Question 3: This one was also pretty easy. Child9; wedding3.**

**So, without further ado, here's chapter 19!**

Max's POV:

"Finally," Mom sighed in over-exaggerated exasperation. "They're all done."

Mom, Jeb, Ella, Fang, and I had been working on wedding invitations for about three days. We had to track down where the others from the flock were, discover the names they went by with their families, and address the letters with their new names and addresses. Plus, Jeb said that he knew the address of a few people who'd love to see me and Fang married. Turns out that Jeb had been chosen randomly from about twenty whitecoats who had wanted to save the flock from the School. And Mom wanted to invite a few of her friends, as did Ella. And Fang wanted to invite Rachel, which I agreed to.

"Do you think everyone will come?" Ella asked.

"I hope so," I said, smiling. I had been keeping a secret from Fang for a few weeks, and I figured that tonight was the perfect night to tell him.

"All of the past flock members will probably come," Jeb said. "At least, they will if we got the addresses right."

"Oh, they will," Fang said, sounding sure.

"I'm tired; what time is it?" I asked for an excuse to go to my room with just Fang.

"Almost 1 o'clock," Mom said, looking at her watch.

"God, no wonder I'm so tired," I said. "I'm going to go to bed now, ok? Wake me up at the normal time in the morning, please," I grabbed Fang's hand. "Want to come with me, Fang?" I asked.

"Sure," Fang said. "See you guys in the morning."

I led Fang up to my room and locked my door behind us.

"So?" Fang asked, sitting on the bed. "You're way too keyed up to go to sleep."

"Well, I wanted to tell you something in private," I said as I went to sit down next to him.

"Shoot," Fang said, looking curious.

"I found out a couple nights ago," I started. "Remember how sick I had been?"

"Yeah," Fang said slowly.

"Well, I went to the drugstore and picked up something to see if I was right about _why_ I was sick and, Fang," I paused and took a deep breath, but my voice came out in barely a whisper, "I'm pregnant."

Fang blinked a couple time before responding.

"What?" Yup, that was the most intelligent thing my fiancé could come up with when I told him I was going to have a baby.

"I'm pregnant," I said again. "I'm going to have a baby."

"Whose?" Fang asked. It was my turn to be surprised.

"What do you mean, 'whose'?" I asked.

"Whose baby is it?" he asked.

"Whose do you think it is?" I asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, Max," Fang asked. "Is it going to be our baby, or Tom's?"

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. I had almost forgotten about my school friend. "You mean your father?"

"Who else would I mean?" Fang asked, his eyes narrowing. "Why, have you been sneaking around with other guys, or something?"

"No, I thought you had meant Tom Stephens, you know, from school?" I said. Fang opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off. "He _is_ my friend," I added.

"Still, do you know if it's going to be my child, or Tom's?" Fang asked again. I felt my eyes start to water, but I blinked the tears away before they could spill over.

"Fang, I'm going to have _your_ baby," I said, glaring at him. "Why would you even suggest anything else?" Fang's face softened, and he must have seen my expression change.

"Max," he started, but I turned away from him, walking towards my window.

"I'll be back soon," I said, opening and jumping through my window.

"Max, please—" the rest of what Fang said was lost in the wind, literally, as I went into hyper-speed flying.

Once I was about five miles away, I found a high tree and landed on one of the top branches. I put my head on my knees and started crying.

I stayed in the tree for a few hours before deciding to go back home, but I was exhausted from flying so fast, and I did _not_ feel like talking to Fang just yet. I saw my ring sparkle in the small bit of light that filtered through the tree from the moon and cried harder.

How could Fang possibly think that I would have anyone's baby but his?

I must have fallen asleep in the tree, because next thing I knew, I felt like I was in the air, flying, with Fang's strong arms holding me.

**A/N: So... What do you guys think? You all know what's going to happen, but I'll try to make it as twisted along the way as possible. Please remember to review as much as possible! And if you know a good place where I can put my own story, not a fanfic, where it'll get constructive criticism, please tell me! Also, I need a good name for the baby, and I need to know if it should be a boy or a girl.**


	20. Tell Me

**A/N: Ok, winter vacation starts on Monday, so I'll try to write more, but I'm not going to be able to update for a few days because I'm going out of town. I'll still be writing, so I should have quite a bit to type up when I get back.**

Fang's POV:

I felt like crap. Why had I said that one, small, insignificant word? Whose. As if that really mattered! Max was going to be my _wife_ in less then 3 months! Whether her baby had my DNA, which it would anyways, didn't matter! All that mattered is that _if_ it was Tom's baby, I'd still treat it as my own no matter what.

I scanned the ground again, looking for where Max had landed, and saw her in a tree, sleeping.

I dropped down and landed as gently as I could next to her. I crawled next to her on the thick branch until I was holding her. Max smiled in her sleep and turned so she could be closer to me, almost falling out of the tree as she did. I wrapped my arms around Max and picked her up so I could fly the both of us back home.

I was just flying through our bedroom window when I felt Max stir. I looked down and saw her eyes flicker.

"Fang?" she asked looking up at me.

"I'm right here, Max," I said, laying her on the bed and then laying down next to her.

"Fang, why did you say that?" she asked quietly, putting her head on my chest.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I don't know why that was my reaction."

"Please, Fang, just tell me that you'll love our baby," Max said. "Tell me that you'll still love me before I go to sleep. Please, just tell me."

"Max, I love you, I always have loved you, and I'll love our baby," I said. I put my arm around her and touched her stomach, which was already slightly round. "I think it's going to be a girl," I whispered, kissing her cheek.

"I love you, Fang," Max whispered, and I felt her breathing slow as she fell asleep.

**A/N: I know, I know, it's really short, but I plan to write more in my notebook. Please remember to review, and I'll update at every chance I get! Review, review, review, please!!!**


	21. The Big Day

**A/N: Ok, I'm sorry to say that this story is almost over. I still have a bit to write, and to those of you who know that I had started a MR/Twilight crossover fanfic, the one that I dropped, I'm re-starting that one because I've added, like, a lot to it. Please read and enjoy!**

Max's POV:

Three months had gone by way too fast. My stomach didn't look so big, and when I had told Mom the day before, she was very surprised, which was good.

I assumed that the rest of the old flock was sitting the gallery, where the rest of the guests were, waiting for me to walk down with my parents.

We had arranged for the wedding to be at the Botanical Gardens, and everything was setup beautifully inside the large room we were in.

I was so nervous. I looked at Mom, and she smiled at me. I smiled back at her weakly and took a deep breath.

The music, my cue to start walking, started and my heart picked up speed. I felt my stomach do a flip and I almost thought I would be sick.

Mom tugged my arm and I started walking down the isle.

I saw Fang waiting for me. He looked to hot in a tux.

Mom let go of my arm, as did Jeb, and they went off to the side.

Before I knew what was happening, Fang was asking me to be his wife, if I would take him as a husband.

"I do," I whispered. Fang smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back. Fang bent down slightly and I tilted my head up so our lips would meet. I heard everyone saying congratulations, but they seemed far off. All that existed was Fang and me; Fang, my husband, and me, his wife.

"I love you, Max," Fang whispered against my lips, "so much."

"I love you, too, Fang," I whispered back.

Of course, I'd _like_ to say that the rest of our wedding was wonderful. I'd _like_ to say that, after that, I had mine and Fang's baby. But I can't.

At that moment, there was a bang; the doors blew wide open. I heard another, louder, sharper bang; a gunshot.

"Max!" Fang whispered before jumping between me and the door.

"No, Fang!" I shrieked. I felt him jerk closer to me.

"This is a devil's wedding! That man's a devil!" I heard a man with an unfamiliar accent yell. No, not unfamiliar. I'd heard it once before. A long time ago, two days after I had started school with Fang, to be exact. Why were they here?

"Either a devil, or a cruel angel," I heard the other man say.

"No!" I screamed, kneeling on the floor next to Fang, who had collapsed. "Fang, no, please!"

"Max," Fang mumbled, putting his hand on his side. "I'm fine," Fang winced and clutched his side. "Really I'll be fine, Max." Fang passed out after he finished talking.

I moved Fang's hand aside and looked at his side. There was a wound there, pretty shallow, right next to three scars. Three parallel scars. I remembered when he got those scars. How he got them. When we were 14, still fighting against Erasers, from Ari.

"Fang, you're ok. You're going to be ok," I said.

I heard something shoot in the background, but I ignored it.

"Max, we can't stay here," he whispered. "We need to go somewhere else; with less people."

"Ok," I whispered, putting my arms around him so I could carry him somewhere else.

"Need a hand?" I heard a male voice ask.

"Yeah, but be careful," I muttered.

"Max," a girl's questioning voice said.

I glanced up and did a double-take. My eyes widened.

Iggy, Nudge, Angel, and the Gasman were standing over my shoulder. Nudge, I noticed, was wearing a ring.

"Oh, you guys made it! Thank you so much," I said, looking back to Fang. "We need to get him to another room." I wrapped my arms around his waist. Iggy felt his way over to where Fang's arms were, and Nudge went over to his legs. Angel and Gazzy started leading us to an empty room.

Once we got there, made sure there was a bench, and locked the door, I laid Fang down.

Iggy started feeling along Fang's side, looking for the wound.

"This is _really_ deep," Iggy murmured. "That bullet got his pretty close."

"Ig?" Fang whispered, his eyes opening a crack.

"Fang, are you ok?" I asked, worried. Fang took a sharp breath as Iggy touched the bullet wound again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Fang said his breathing shallow.

"Iggy, is he going to be ok?" I asked.

"It's hard to tell," Iggy replied. "Is there anything that can be used as bandaging in here?"

I looked around. Nothing could be used.

'_Not nothing, Max_,' Angel said in my head. I saw a mental picture of something; a lot of cloth.

Where, Angel? I thought.

'_In the next room, should I go get it_?'

Yes.

Angel got up and ran out of the room, Nudge following right behind her.

"Max," Iggy whispered. I looked up. Iggy's eyes had grown to the size of dinner-plates. "He's dying." I let out a sharp breath. Fang was dying?

"No, he can't be," I whispered back.

"Are Nudge and Angel out of the room?" Iggy asked.

"Yes," I told him. Iggy nodded and pulled off Fang's shirt. The wound hadn't been as...contained...as I had thought. It wasn't just a red line on Fang's side. It was a red line across half of Fang's body.

"Fang," I breathed. I leaned over him, at the same time Iggy leaned back. "Fang, please! Don't leave me!" I whispered.

Iggy got up and I could see him leave out of my peripheral vision. He had locked himself out, letting me be alone with Fang before he... No, I couldn't think about that.

"Fang, please, no! You can't leave me!" I said, crying into his chest. I felt Fang's arm around me.

"Max, I'm not leaving you," Fang said weakly. I looked up into his face. Fang's face was white—almost like candle-wax. I leaned down and kissed Fang's wound, making Fang wince in pain.

"Fang, please," I cried softly. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not..." Fang started, but he passed out mid-sentence. I was crying, hard. I moved myself so that I was next to him on the floor and leaned over to press my lips against his. Fang's lips were already somewhat cold, but I felt heat rush into them as I leaned back.

I put my hand on Fang's chest and felt his heart first go slower and slower, then stop for a full minute before kick-starting again at full speed. Fang took a sharp breath and started panting. Sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Max?" he panted. "Max, I think I just died." Fang turned his head to face me.

**A/N: Yeah, I did that. I made Fang die and then brought him back. I was planning to really, you know, **_**kill**_** him, but I couldn't. That would make me mad at myself. Anyways, you guys are going to have to wait about a week for the next chapter because I'm going out of town!**


	22. Fang's Back!

**A/N: Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. I had an unmanageable illness; writer's block. I couldn't think of ANYTHING to write! But I finally got past it, so here's the long-awaited chapter 22!!**

_Recap from Chapter 21:_

_Max's POV:_

_I put my hand on Fang's chest and felt his heart first go slower and slower, then stop for a full minute before kick-starting again at full speed. Fang took a sharp breath and started panting. Sweat broke out on his forehead._

"_Max?" he panted. "Max, I think I just died." Fang turned his head to face me._

(Chapter 22)

Fang's POV:

I was flying. That was the only explanation for why I felt so light, but my wings were furled up. I looked down and saw the building where Max and I were just married, weren't we? I remember putting the wedding band on her finger and kissing her, but the rest of what had happened was still blurry.

Slowly, very slowly, I started to remember. I had pulled Max behind me because I had heard...something. A man's voice the man who had tried to rape her on her first day of school. I had pulled her behind me and heard a shot.

I turned to face Max, who was leaning over me.

My face felt wet with sweat, but I was still lying on the floor. Max was leaning on her elbow next to me, looking terrified. There were two shimmering lines on her face, from her tears.

"Max," I panted. I didn't even realize I was out of breath. "What just happened to me?" I asked.

"I-I had th-thought that you had-had..." Max started, but she choked off and started crying, wrapping her arms around me.

"Shh, Max," I said softly, stroking her hair. "It's ok, I'm ok."

"F-Fang," Max said, leaning back and looking at me. "What just happened?"

"I don't know, Max," I said truthfully.

I pulled Max closer to me and kissed her as passionately as I could, and we broke apart gasping for air. Max looked at me for a moment before laying her head on my chest.

"Fang," Max murmured.

"Yeah, Max?"

"Never, ever, do that to me again." I pulled Max even tighter against my chest and stroked her hair. I felt her tears fall onto my chest and moved her so that she was on the floor next to me.

"What-" Max started to say a few minutes later, but paused, evidently not sure if she should ask...whatever she was going to ask.

"What were you going to say, Max?" I asked.

"Well," she blushed slightly, "I was wondering two things, really. One, what was it like, well, dying? You don't have to answer that, I probably wouldn't, and, two, how did you come back?"

"Um," I said, thinking about what had just happened. "Well, to answer your first question, it felt like flying, only better. I felt like I was in the air, just flying up. Flying up higher then anyone in the old flock ever had. I saw clouds all around me. I could see through my hand, even."

I paused, took a deep breath, and looked at Max.

"I had wanted to stay that way for the rest of my life, but when I looked around I didn't see you. All I saw was a never-ending sky, and my wings were still taking me upward. I looked down and saw you and Angel and Iggy and Nudge and I was wondering why you weren't with me. I had totally forgotten about the last three years.

I looked back at the ceiling and closed my eyes, remembering what had just happened to me.

"I remembered what had happened, what was happening, and I looked closer at you, specifically. You looked, and still look, so beautiful in your dress. I saw that you were crying, hard, next to something, a body. I don't know how, but I was able to look even closer at the ground and I saw who you were next to. I saw myself on the ground, still; un-breathing.

"I looked up and tried to see where my wings were taking me and saw nothing, but bright, pure, white light. That's when I realized what was happening, where I was going. Why you were crying. I realized that I was dead, and that I was flying up towards haven.

"I felt my throat close up, making it impossible for me to talk, but somehow I managed to scream. I yelled out to anyone who was listening, 'Let me go back! I want to live my life with Max! I want to _live_!'

"Something, or someone, took pity on me and I felt my wings fold up against my back and I stared falling. Not the way I would normally fall, though. It was more like drifting. All I saw of whoever saved me was an arm with black numbers tattooed on it before I started falling."

I opened my eyes and looked back at Max. She was staring at me in wonder.

"And that's when I woke up."

"Wow," Max whispered. "All you saw of whoever saved you was their arm, which had numbers? They saved you when you said you wanted to live... That's... Amazing and weird..." she paused. "When you were...dead, I had a vision; a memory of when the flock was split. When Nudge, Angel, Ari, and I were in Germany, we had gone on a tour in Munich of a camp. The tour guide called the place a 'concentration camp.'

"There were pictures, terrible pictures, on one of the walls. Pictures of kids, about how old we were when Jeb rescued us from the School, who were obviously starved, and you could see every single bone in their rib-cage, and their hips jutted out terribly. And there was one picture of a woman, who would have been the age I am now, being led, screaming, into a room, and the picture showed her arm. It had a series of numbers tattooed on it." Max stopped and looked at me. "Maybe it was her spirit saving you from the fate she had, or someone like her."

"Maybe," I said. I had never herd of these types of 'camps.' It sounded like it was a death camp.

Just then, the door burst open.

"Fang!" I looked up and saw Angel as a surprised look crossed her face. "You're alive!"

I smiled half-way. "Yeah, I was saved from death, in a literal sense, by Max," I said, throwing Max a small glance so she wouldn't tell the others about how I was really saved.

"You're still covered in blood, though," Nudge said, walking in behind Angel, Iggy right behind her.

"Not for long," Iggy said. He held out a clean, black shirt and black cargo pants.

"Thanks, Ig," I said, starting to get up, but as I put my hand on the floor to hoist my body up, my arm caved and I dropped back down.

Max put her hand on my arm as I let out a sharp gasp. I looked up at her and tried again, with better luck this time. Max helped me on my second try, and she got up with me.

"Thanks again, Iggy," I said, taking the clothes from him. Nudge was right. I _was_ still covered in blood. Max got up to follow me, and we left the others in the room staring after us.

Angel's POV:

I walked into the room Max was in with Fang's body and heard her whispering. I couldn't make out any of her words, but her thoughts were clear enough. She was telling Fang about the tour we had gone on in Germany, the one of the concentration camp. I shuddered at the memory. Why would Max be thinking about _that_? Her newly-married husband just _died_.

Hadn't he? I heard a deep voice—Fang's voice—speaking from inside the room. Fang wasn't dead!

**A/N: And here is the long-awaited chapter 22! I just added that little Angel's POV at the end to show...ok, not to show anything. Just to add a bit of fluff. Anyway, please, please, please, please, please, please (takes deep breath), please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please (takes another deep breath), please, please, please, please, please, please, please, (takes **_**another**_** deep breath), PLEASE, REVIEW! And read the author's note in chap 21.2 and vote in the poll! Until then, I can't post the next chapter.**


	23. Fine

**A/N: So, here's chapter 23! Enjoy!**

Max's POV:

I got up and followed Fang into the room where he was going to change his clothes.

"Are you ok?" I asked, worried that his death experience may have had some unknowable effects on him.

"Yeah, Max," he said, taking off his blood-stained, white shirt. "I'm fine, really."

I stared at him while he put on the clean shirt and changed his pants. I noticed, while I was watching, that he didn't seem used to using his arms, even though he had used them since, well, since we had big enough cages at the school to move our bodies.

"Come on, Max," Fang said after he was fully dressed and his blood-stained clothes were in the trash. "We should get back to the others."

I nodded, still watching him carefully, and followed Fang back to where everyone else was.

**A/N: Ok, I have no idea what everyone would say about Fang's coming back to life, so I'll skip that scene. I hope you guys don't mind, but I really **_**CANNOT**_** think of anything to write. I have the next chapter mostly written, though, so you won't have to wait long.**


	24. Run Away, Not

"Max, come on," Fang said in a would-be-whine-y voice, if Fang ever whined. I was sitting in the bathroom of our one-bedroom apartment, complementary of Mom and Jeb as a wedding gift, sitting on the floor next to the toilet bowl.

I had gotten into that annoying stage of pregnancy where I either feel like I'm going to throw up every ten seconds, or actually throw up every ten seconds.

Right now, though, I was faking, and Fang knew it.

"No, I feel like I'm about to barf!" I yelled out at him.

I heard a small "click" and the door opened. I stared in annoyance as Fang walked in.

"Then let me at least sit with you," he said. "Max, really, what did I do wrong? What did I do to annoy you so much?"

"It's nothing, Fang," I said. In all honesty, I didn't actually know why I was mad at him. I was just really irritated, and he was right there.

"I called you mom this morning, before you woke up," Fang started. I kept my back turned toward him and forced myself not to turn around. "I told her that you were pregnant, and she offered to do an ultrasound, if you want. Then we can see what you're going to have."

"I don't want to know," I shot at him, pushing myself up from the floor so I could walk back into our room.

"Well," Fang started again, taking a different approach. "What if you're having more then one baby? Wouldn't you want to know that?"

I thought about it for a second before answering.

"I'm pretty sure I'm only having one baby," I said sharply.

"I'm not so sure," Fang said, and I turned around to glare at him, but he was closer then I thought and I turned into his strong arms. "Well, I mean, you're only in your fourth month and you're already huge."

And those were the exact _wrong_ words he should have used.

"'Huge'?" I repeated. "I'm '_huge_'?!? Oh, thanks! I feel like crap already, and then you have to go ahead and say that I'm 'huge'?!" I shoved him away from me and ran towards the window. I was planning to fly out and go to the park, or something, but Fang had evidently been way ahead of me. There were already padlocks on the windows, probably to prevent me from doing exactly what I was planning to do.

"Max, that's not what I meant," Fang said, noticing his mistake in words. "I meant you're getting bigger." I turned to glare at him again. "No, I mean, our baby's growing, so you're getting bigger." Fang just could not get the words right, could he? God!

I pushed past him towards the door of our apartment and went outside. We were living in Arizona, near my mother, about a mile away, but it was the middle of January, and it was actually icy outside.

I groaned in annoyance as I made this realization and walked back up the two flights of steps to my apartment.

When I got back to the apartment, it was empty.

"Fang," I called out, but there was no answer. "Fang!"

I looked around the apartment. The bathroom was empty; he wasn't in our bed or our small living room, nor the small kitchen or dinning room.

"Fang!" I cried in desperation. He wouldn't have left would he? Could he really have gotten that annoyed at me that he's leave?

I went over to our bed, lied down in the middle of it, and started crying.

"Fang," I mumbled through my tears. "Fang, why are you doing this to me?"

I turned over so I was face-down in the bed and started crying harder into the pillow. The bed smelled like Fang.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, I felt someone's strong, warm hand stroking my back.

"Fang?" I asked, still half-asleep.

"I'm right here, Max," he said softly. I turned over to face him.

"Why did you leave me?" I demanded.

"I was just a bit annoyed that you were being so...sensitive...about being pregnant," he said, taking me into his arms. "So, while you had gone outside to leave, I had flown out to your mother's practice and made an appointment for you to get an ultrasound."

I sighed. "But I don't want to know what I'm having," I said.

"We don't have to know," Fang whispered in my ear. "But don't you want to make sure that the baby's healthy?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "And you're right; I may be having more then one, the way I'm carrying." I looked up at Fang and he smiled.

"Well, the appointment is for later today," he said. "But your mother said we can go earlier, if we want to."

"Ok," I said softly. "Can we go now?" I asked after a brief pause.

"Of course," Fang said, leading me off of the bed so I could get dressed in warmer clothes before leaving.

"What do you think I'll have?" I asked Fang while I got dressed.

"At least one boy and one girl," he said.

"You really think I'm having more then one baby?" I asked.

"I'm sure of it," he replied. I smiled to myself. Maybe I would have twins...

**A/N: And there's that chapter! Please vote in the poll, and, just to clarify, the names that I put up are the names that I'm using. I'm not considering any other names. The choices are:**

**(For a boy) Ammar (meaning "prosperous long life"); ****Jivan**** (meaning "life"); Aden (meaning "fire")**

**(For a girl) ****Zivanka**** (meaning "full of life"); ****Kanara**** (meaning "little bird, canary"); ****Stella**** (meaning "star"); ****Tara**** (meaning "hill; star"); ****Thea**** (meaning "goddess").**

**Please choose from one of those names ONLY! Thank you!**


	25. Say, WHAT?

**A/N: Ok, the votes are in! And you'll find out what the results are in the story while you read it, otherwise you'll know how many babies Max is having before I want you to. Just FYI, I also voted in the pole, so I, technically, have 11 voters.**

Max's POV:

After waiting in a separate room for Mom to be available, I was finally able to have the ultrasound done.

"Well, Max," Mom said as I got up from where I was lying for the ultrasound and got into a sitting position. "You're going to have more then one baby, that's for sure."

I looked up at Fang and smiled.

"How many babies am I going to have, exactly?" I asked.

Mom smiled. "You really want to know?" she asked. I nodded.

"Well, according to this, you're going to have five babies. Quintuplets," Mom said. "Do you want to know the sexes?"

Even though Fang and I agreed that we wanted to be surprised, I said, "Yes." I really did want to know what I was going to have.

"Well, you're going to have three girls and two boys," Mom said, still smiling.

"Really?" I asked. I could hardly believe I was going to have five babies!

"Really," Mom said, her smile growing, "five little hyper, energetic, winged babies."

"Wait, 'winged'?" Fang asked. "They're going to have wings?" I could see one of his rare public smiles slowly appearing on his face.

"Yup, all five of them are going to have wings," Mom confirmed.

"Wow," I murmured.

"All five of them are healthy, and they'll arrive around late June or early July," Mom said.

"Right in the middle of Summer-time," Fang said, planting a small kiss on the top of my head.

"Wow," I said quietly again. Fang took my hand and gave it a soft squeeze. I looked up at him and smiled. We were really going to have five babies!

"You should probably get home soon and rest, Max," Mom said. "I want you to come back here sometime in March for another check-up, just to see how the babies are doing, and then again in late-May."

I nodded, making a mental note to write all this down when Fang and I got home.

"Now you need to go home and rest. Call me if anything happens that you think might affect the babies' health. I'm available at the old home number," Mom said. She took me in her arms and gave me a big hug when she finished speaking. "I hope yo have a safe delivery, Max."

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

"Come on, Max," Fang said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We should get home, now."

"Ok," I said, then turned to Mom and said, "I'll call you in the morning, ok?"

"Got it," Mom said, leading us out of her office.

Fang and I decided to walk home, since we didn't have a car, and Fang didn't want me to risk flying.

Once we were back at our apartment, I got into my pajamas and went to our bed to lay down, but before I actually lied down, I sat at the edge of the bed, thinking.

"Fang, could you come here?" I called, hoping that he hadn't gone out or anything.

"Yeah, Max?" he asked when he reached where I was.

"When do you think we should start thinking of names?" I asked, pulling him onto the bed next to me.

"I don't know," he said.

"Do you think we should name one each month? I have five more months left and I'm going to have five babies?" I suggested.

"Ok, that sounds like an idea."

"So, should we name a girl or a boy first?"

"Boy, definitely," Fang said with a smile.

"Ok," I said, thinking. "The name should be chosen because of its meaning, right?" Yeah, like he had a choice.

"Right," Fang said slowly.

"So, I think that the first boy's name should mean either 'brave' or 'fire' or something like that."

"Hmm," Fang went over to the computer and started searching Google for a Baby Name Dictionary. "The results for 'brave' as a meaning are... None are good on the first page. On the second page the names are just ok. There's Gillard, Garrard, Gerard, Hardy—" I cut Fang off there.

"Gerard," I tested, rolling the name over on in my mouth. "Gerard Ride," I said again, and then smiled. "I like it."

Fang turned around and smiled. "Good," he said. "I do, too."

Fang came over to the bed and lay down next to me.

I turned over and kissed Fang on his lips.

"I'm so happy we can finally be together," Fang said after we parted, but taking no time before kissing me again.

"We were together before, Fang," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but we couldn't be together and let people _know_ we were together. Before we were together just as friends, or boyfriend/girlfriend. Now we can _really_ be together."

"Fang, you are really funny. And your logic makes no sense," I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.

"I make perfect sense and you know it," Fang whispered in my ear. That's the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep.

**A/N: So...? What do y'all think? Please review!! Also, I just read an article about a woman who had twins a month apart... Kinda makes a person think, huh? I'm probably not doing that, but it's a thought.**


	26. Bar Code Tattoo

**A/N: Ok, so the next few chapters are going to be skipping months and stuff, so this chapter takes place a month after chapter 25. The next chapter will be two months after this one (when she's in her seventh month).**

Max's POV:

Another month had gone by way too quickly. I was in my fifth month, and Fang and I were ready to name another baby, a girl this time.

I was at home, waiting for Fang to get home. He had gotten a job at Mom's veterinary practice as an assistant, even though he had never gone to veterinary school.

We had gotten a three-room-apartment so that we'd have space when the babies were born.

I was sitting on the couch in our small living room reading _The Bar-Code Tattoo_ by Suzanne Weyn when Fang walked in.

"Hey," he said, walking over to where I was sitting and leaned down so he could press his lips against mine.

"Mmm," I said when we broke apart. "I think each day seems to go by slower and slower when you're not here."

"Well, the day doesn't go by any faster for me when I'm at work," Fang said as he sat down next to me.

"At least you're _doing_ something. I get so bored!" I exclaimed. "Well, I found another name, just so you know," I added.

"Oh?" Fang asked. "What did you find?"

"Stella," I said. "What do you think?"

Fang was quiet for a moment. I looked up at him and he smiled.

"Perfect."

**A/N: Ok, just a quick note, "**_**Singer**_**" wrote "Happily Ever After?" and "The Greatest Kisser", NOT ME! All other stories on this account are written by me ("Tree"). So, really, to those of you who read both my stories and "Singer's" stories, WE ARE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE! Honestly, I think I wrote that at the beginning of at least **_**most**_** of my stories. And when "Singer" told me she was discontinuing "Happily Ever After?", I was just as disappointed as everyone else. Please, please, PLEASE try to remember that we're two different authors. Also, I like the name Gerard, so too bad to those who don't. I'm not changing it. So, now that I've said all that crud, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**


	27. Babies?

**A/N: Ok, Max is in month numero seven...-o... Ok, I'll tell the name of the baby that was named when Max was in her sixth month so y'all don't get annoyed at me. Remember to Review! (Hey... R2R! Cool...-ish... I'm a bit tired, as you can tell...)**

Max's POV:

Another boring day gone by, another long month finished, another baby to be named, and this one I'm excited for. This time, I've picked out a really cute name for a boy.

Of course, I still had about two hours before Fang got home. What to do, what to do? I could read a book... Nah, I'm not in the right mood... Of course, a movie! Which one though? I've already practically memorized _Twilight_, _The Bar Code Tattoo_ gets boring after a while, I didn't feel like re-reading Wicked, and I had no new books.

I sighed. The days were definitely getting longer without Fang at home.

I felt one of my babies kick, and I smiled. I'd named three of my babies so far; Gerard, Stella, and Kanara. I couldn't wait to name my last two.

I glanced at my clock. Only one and a half hours to go until Fang got home.

I sighed again and got up. Not an easy thing to do for someone having quintuplets in their seventh month. I could eat next to nothing without chucking it up the same day.

I had to grab the corner of the small table in the dinning room in the apartment to keep from falling over when I felt another kick. I looked at the clock on the microwave. I'd only been standing for five minutes. Usually there were about ten or fifteen minutes between kicks. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and started walking toward the door. I didn't have any good books, so I would go out and buy one.

I grabbed at the couch in the small living room in the apartment.

_Weird_, I though as I looked at the clock on the computer screen-saver, _three kicks in less then ten minutes_. I laughed softly. Maybe my babies were getting restless.

I shook my head again and started walking back toward my bedroom, to the phone. I couldn't wait anymore, I really needed Fang.

"Ah!" I cried out. I just got another kick, but this time, it felt like all five of my babies had kicked.

I walked over to the phone next to the bed Fang and I shared and dialed his work number.

"Dr. Martinez's Veterinary practice, this is Fang Ride speaking, can I help you?" I heard Fang say.

"Fang, you need to get home," I said, "_now_!"

I fell to my knees and fought back the tears that were threatening from pain.

"Is everything ok?" I head Fang ask distantly.

"_No_," I gasped, "you need to get home_ NOW_!"

"I'll be there in about five minutes," Fang said.

"_Hurry_," I panted. I was on my hands and knees now, gripping the carpet for, in my opinion, dear life.

I heard the other phone line click and dropped the phone. I was lying on my back, panting hard. The pain had gone away again, probably only for a minute or two, like last time.

"Come on," I muttered to myself.

I closed my eyes and tried to picture Fang in my mind. Maybe that would keep the pain away.

"_FANG!_" I screamed as another burst of pain coursed through my body. I arched my back, trying to get into a more comfortable position, which, of course, didn't work.

This time, the pain lasted longer. I couldn't think clearly, that's how bad the pain was.

The pain ended, and I started panting. Sweat had broken out on my forehead. Every sense that a person is capable of, sound, speech, sight, smell, taste, touch even thought, was either blurred or at an absence.

"_Max!_" I heard faintly as the pain coursed through me, again. I turned onto my side and clutched my huge stomach.

_Oh, no_, I thought. _All this pain...am I going to miscarry?_

"Max, what's going on? Are you alright?" I heard distantly. I felt Fang put his hand on my side as my body relaxed; as the pain went away again.

I started panting and opened my eyes a crack.

"Fang?" I whimpered.

"I'm here, Max." Fang was blurred to me, but I could still see that he was scared. _Very_ scared.

"It's going to be ok, Max," Fang said, grabbing for the phone that I had dropped. "Just hang in there, Max."

"I'm fine...FANG!" I screamed his name as the pain came back.

"Mom," I heard him ask distantly as I withered in pain. What was he doing, calling his stupid, slutty mother? "Yeah, she's early, I think... No, not yet... Ok, see you soon."

His _mother_ was coming? The stupid, slutty-whore, idiotic, insensitive _mother_?!

I screamed as the pain came, again. I felt Fang slide my maternity-skirt off. Wait, _what_?

Fang put a light blanket over my stomach and lower body.

"Max, you're ok," Fang said. I could hear how nervous he was by his tone.

"Fang, what's going on?" I managed to pant out after the pain had ebbed for a few minutes.

"Well," Fang started. "You're early." Fang took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Oh," I said like it was no big deal. Which it was to me, since I was so light-headed and un-thinking.

"Your mom is going to be here in a couple minutes," Fang told me. "She can help you through this."

"I'm oka—FANG!" I screamed his name. I guess it was too much to ask for the pain to have totally gone away. But this time was weirder. I felt like something, besides pain, was going through my body. Or, more specifically, _out_ of my body. Fang wasn't joking; I was giving birth early!

"Max!" Mom called as she rushed in. "Fang, out."

"What?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Out," Mom said again. "You shouldn't be seeing Max like this."

Fang looked at me, and I nodded, signaling that I didn't mind if he left.

Fang's POV:

"Fang, out," Max's mom said as I came in.

"What?" I asked as I looked up at her.

"Out," Max's mom repeated. "You shouldn't be seeing Max like this." 

I looked at Max, hoping she would want me to stay with her, but she nodded, signaling that she wanted me to leave, so I got up and left.

I went into another room in our apartment, but only paced. I was so nervous for her! She was two months early with five babies.

I thought about going back into the same room as Max and her mother, but thought better of it. I hope she was alright.

**A/N: Originally, I was going to put a bit more into this chapter, but I don't feel like it. You'll just have to wait to see what happens.**


	28. Aden, Elora, Kanara, Gerard, and Stella

**A/N: Ok, the last chapter was a HUGE cliffhanger, so I'll make sure to tell what happened in this chapter! By the way, I'll be weird and let everyone who reads this story know which guys I 3. Just because I'm crazy.**

Max's POV:

I stayed up the entire night after giving birth, crying. I was so happy about my four, beautiful babies, but I was still upset.

I had been pregnant with five babies, not four.

"Max?" Fang called, knocking on my door. Our four babies were all asleep in their basinets. The green one was Aden's, the pink one was Stella's, the blue one was Gerard's, and the orange one was Elora's (**I know I hadn't put that one up in the poll, but I absolutely adore that name. That may very well be my pen-name when I become an author.**). But the soft-red colored one was empty; the one where Kanara should be.

My little ones were all gorgeous. Aden had dark-brown hair, dark-brown eyes, and chocolate-colored wings. Stella had black hair, soft-blue eyes, and off-white wings. Gerard had dirty-blond hair, dark-blue-ish eyes, and black wings. Elora had bright-red hair, hazel eyes, and pure, bright-white wings. Kanara was born with grey eyes, grey wings, and blond hair with black streaks.

I cried harder, remembering what had happened.

Aden had come first, followed by Elora, then Kanara, Gerard, and Stella. But Kanara hadn't woken up. She had had a very soft heartbeat at first, but hadn't survived through her first hour.

Fang came in and sat down next to me. He was holding a small, orange bundle, and I knew he was holding Elora.

"She was crying, so I picked her up. I figured you would be able to calm her down better then me," he said, and I took Elora from him.

Elora's eyes opened a crack and she stared up at me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry about Kanara," Fang said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Fang," I said in that type of questioning-ish tone that doesn't really have and adverb for it (**honestly, I've thought about this about a hundred times, but I can't find a way to describe this type of tone!**). "You also had the harder end of this deal."

"But I wasn't the one who had to carry her around for seven months," Fang replied.

"Whatever," I said, unzipping my sweater and pulling my shirt up so I could feed Elora.

"Just out of curiosity, how can you tell when they're hungry?" Fang asked as I started nursing her.

"It's just a mother thing, I guess," I said, glancing up at him and smiling.

I leaned closer into Fang's side as I nursed Elora (**another thing about the name Elora, that's going to be my first daughter's name!**).

"Well, we still have our four other little ones," I said. At that moment, I could hear Aden start to cry for attention.

"Could you go get Aden? He just wants to be held," I asked.

"Sure," he said, getting up.

I finished feeding Elora and put my shirt back on right.

I met Fang in the nursery where he was holding Aden in his green blanket. He put one finger to his lips when I walked in to shush me, and I rolled my eyes.

I put Elora in her orange basinet since she was asleep and walked back into our bedroom. I was dead tired.

The second my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.

**A/N: Ok, I'll put one more chapter as an epilogue, and that'll the end of this story! Either that or I'll stretch it out to 30 chapters. And, since I said I would, here's a list of the guys I think are hot:**

**Alexander Sterling (from **_**Vampire Kisses**_**), Stefan Salvatore (from **_**Vampire Diaries**_**), Edward Cullen (from **_**Twilight**_**), Gerard Butler (from **_**The Phantom of the Opera**_**), Robert Pattinson (from the **_**Twilight**_** movie as Edward), Chris Pine (from **_**Princess Diaries 2**_** movie), and that's all I can think of right now. I like Alexander A LOT right now. He's just... MWAH ( that's a kiss, in case you didn't know)! And, just for clarity, I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, **_**HATE**__**HATE**_** Zac Efron!**


	29. The Lion King

**A/N: And this is very possibly the last chapter for **_**Days Without the School**_**! Isn't that sad? I've been working on this story for so long, it'll feel so weird to stop it. I might just push it out to 30 chapters, but I don't know. This'll just be a... I can't think of the word... A callback, for the lack of a better word, to some of the previous chapters. You'll see why when you read it. But, still, this is really sad. I want this to end well, but I suck at doing good endings. I'll end it happily, that's for sure. Good luck to me!**

_5 YEARS LATER_

Max's POV:

"Mommy, can we go to the toy-store instead?"

"No, I want to go to the surprise trip!"

"I bet _I_ know where we're going!"

"No you don't, Elora! You're just p'rtending!"

"Well, we're half-way to the surprise trip," I told my little ones. "Do you want to try guessing where we're going?"

Oh course, none of them knew where Fang and I were taking them.

I looked up at Fang and smiled. We were both pushing double-jogging strollers, with the girls in mine and the boys in his. We were taking them somewhere _really_ special.

Fang and I had made a point to show only the good, old-fashioned Disney cartoon movies to our babies. Their absolute favorite, though, was _The Lion King_. So Fang and I were taking them to the play.

"Here we are," I said, staring up at Broadway.

"'At's a big sign," Gerard commented.

"It's not _d'at_ big," Stella said in that annoying, no-adverb-available tone.

"Uh-huh! I bet I could w'ap is around our room 'ifty times!" Aden exclaimed.

"Could not!" Elora argued. "You're just making things up!"

Out of all four of my babies, I was still amazed that Elora was the only one who could talk properly by age 5.

"Do you want to see what's inside?" I asked.

"Yeah!" all four of my little ones said in unison. I laughed slightly and started pushing the stroller inside.

"Hello," I said when we got to the counter. I handed the person behind the desk two adult tickets and four minor tickets. He took them and scanned them, and did all that stuff.

"Enjoy the play," he said.

"Thank you," I said. "Oh, and just out of curiosity, is there a stroller-park anywhere?"

The guy nodded and told me where to put the strollers.

"Are you all ready to see a Disney movie in person?" I asked my little girls as I unbuckled them from the stroller.

"What movie is it, Mommy?" Elora asked.

"It has Simba, and Muffasa," I hinted.

"Lion King! Lion King!" Gerard exclaimed. "We're seeing Lion King!"

I smiled. "How did you get so smart?"

"Daddy told me," Gerard said sweetly.

I looked up and eyed Fang. "He did, did he?" Fang shrugged and laughed quietly.

"Well, let's just get into the theatre. We don't want to miss the play," I said, leading my little ones into the theatre. They were going to love this.

**A/N: Ok and now prepare for the epilogue! Can you believe it? THIRTY CHAPTERS!!! That's, like, A LOT! Sigh. And now it's almost over...**


	30. Sorry, just an update

Hey. I know it's been a super-long time since I've updated…anything. Well, stuff's been real over here.

I published a book. So…yeah.

It's called _Rapunzel: Retold_. If there's anyone out there who is still interested in reading stuff I've written, please feel free to buy it. Please buy it. It's available on and

Please. I'm poor and starting a family soon.

Also, I realize that now, everyone on is going to have access to my actual name. Please, please, don't google me or try to friend me on Facebook. I only accept friend requests of people whom I actually know.

Anyway, thanks and I'll try to be back to writing on here soon! I will be focusing more on work and family stuff and school, though.


End file.
